Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority

Since the last incorporation of suburbs into the city boundaries of Frankfurt in 1977, no local government boundary reform has been possible due to general rejection of such attempts by local politicians. Since Frankfurt and its neighbouring municipalities are de facto a highly integrated regional city, the government of the State of Hesse adopted a law in 2011, creating the Regional Authority FrankfurtRheinMain as a supra-local authority. Its purpose is to ensure coordinated actions and developments within the urban region as well as its representation on a national and international level.

The Frankfurt am Main is one of the world's leading metropolitan regions in economic terms. It is the largest financial centre in continental Europe and ranks among the world's leading financial centres. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange and other important commercial banks. Frankfurt is therefore considered a global city (alpha world city) as listed by the Loughborough University group's 2010 inventory. Among global cities it was ranked 10th by the Global Power City Index 2011 and 11th by the Global City Competitiveness Index 2012^{[broken anchor]}. Among financial centers it was ranked 8th by the International Financial Centers Development Index 2013^{[broken anchor]} and 9th by the Global Financial Centres Index 2013.

Due to its central location within Germany and Europe, Frankfurt is a major air, rail and highway transport hub. Frankfurt Airport is one of the world's busiest international airports by passenger traffic and the main hub for Germany's flag carrier Lufthansa, the largest airline in Europe. Frankfurt Central Station is one of the largest terminal stations in Europe and the busiest junction operated by Deutsche Bahn, the German national railway company, with 342 daily trains to domestic and European destinations.^[3] Frankfurter Kreuz, the Autobahn interchange close to the airport, is the most heavily used interchange in the EU with approximately 320,000 cars daily.^[4]

Frankfurt is also a centre for commerce, culture, education, tourism and web traffic. Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fairs at 578,000 square metres and ten exhibition halls, a central logistics centre and an attached convention centre. Major trade fairs include the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world's largest motor show, and the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest book fair. Frankfurt is also home to many cultural and educational institutions including the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, many museums (e.g. Städel, Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Goethe House), and two major botanical gardens, the Palmengarten, which is Germany's largest, and the Botanical Garden of the Goethe University. In 2011, the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Frankfurt as seventh in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of cities around the world.^[5] According to The Economist cost of living survey, Frankfurt is Germany's most expensive city, and the 10th most expensive in the world.^[6]