Киев Експо-форекс 2008

Population
Metro: 12,,

London still reigns over all global cities. Despite crippling COVID lockdowns and economic devastation. Despite Brexit. Despite a war in Europe. The city is more indomitable and part of the global discourse than ever. From the Queen’s death, to last autumn’s chaotic drama at 10 Downing Street that finally calmed down with Rishi Sunak becoming prime minister, only to take heavy local election losses this spring, London is rarely quiet these days.

No wonder that, through all this tumult, the eyes of the world were fixed here more than on any other city—save for maybe Kyiv—reminding everyone that London is spectacular and it’s been a really long while since they visited. Not that the city’s promotion engine was waning. London tops both our overall Livability and Lovability indices, leading all global cities in the Instagram Hashtags, Facebook Check-ins and Tripadvisor Reviews subcategories that in part comprise the latter.

Indeed the city is almost back to pre-pandemic capacity, if the Tube is any indication. The London Underground Night Tube reopened more than a year ago, with the city’s other lines mostly up and running as they were before COVID. There are even new metro stops as part of the transformational Elizabeth line buildout, with trains now running directly from Reading and Heathrow to Abbey Wood and from Shenfield to Paddington. The brand-new Bond Street Elizabeth line station, at the heart of London’s West End, also opened late last year. Returning transit aficionados won’t believe the direct journeys now possible across the city. 

Just as well, given the need to accommodate all the tourists: London ranked third on the planet (and first in Europe) for cities with the biggest international traveler spend in , with $ billion, almost tied for second with Doha. (Dubai was the runaway winner.) Pedestrians are also excited by the opening of the Camden Highline, the nearly mile-long greenway just north of Central London that will transform an unused train track into an elevated path similar to the famous urban landmark in New York. 

And speaking of attracting people, the hand-wringing about the flight of talent and capital due to the pall of Brexit (and the follow-up specter of an airborne pandemic), while warranted, now seems excessive. 

London’s resilience has been buoyed by a sinking currency that has attracted investment and, of course, previously priced-out tourists. And new residents. New wealthy residents who can now afford to check off a big item on the multi-millionaire bucket list: property in the planet’s most coveted city. (London also topped Resonance Consultancy’s Europe’s Best Cities earlier this year.)

According to the Financial Times and estate agency Savills, sales of luxury homes in the city were torrid, with properties selling for £5 million ($ million) or more in , the most since at least The party did slow in , with inflation, persistent high interest rates and flat equity market performance all cited as causes (to say nothing of the potential of the Labour Party forming the next government). “The number of properties sold in prime central London in the first quarter of was 29% lower than the same period last year, according to LonRes, which tracks the city’s high-end market,” reported the FT. “At the same time, buyer demand has fallen in nearly every part of prime London since last summer, says the data company PropCast.”

The highest-profile new residents span the globally super-rich, from Middle Eastern buying activity hitting a four-year high in the second half of to the arrival of tech royalty, although aggressive tech-sector cost-cutting has brought the deep tech investment seen earlier this decade to a halt. 

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, who arrived seeking the most educated citizenry on the planet—available at a relative discount to Silicon Valley or New York—returned to the U.S. earlier this year. While the city remains Meta’s largest global engineering base outside of the U.S., its two offices in London’s King’s Cross neighborhood, opened in early after a three-year build (and designed by Bennetts Associates with interiors by TP Bennett based on a concept design by Gehry Partners), are pretty sparse these days. While Google is still planning to open its story, ,square-foot London HQ in between King’s Cross station and the King’s Boulevard, the 4, anticipated employees won’t be brought on for a while.

The office slowdown across the city has spotlighted the office vacancy crisis at Canary Wharf, London’s acre banking district, with its 17% (and rising) vacancy rate, which is the highest in the city. As a result, owners Canary Wharf Group are planning to invest their way out by building a “Canary Wharf ” in the area, focused on residential, entertainment and a ,square-foot life-sciences center, which it says will be the largest commercial lab in Europe.

Despite these recent economic clouds, London is still hot globally. According to fDi Markets, the Financial Times’ foreign investment tracker, London has pulled in the most foreign direct investments into tech from international companies since , ahead of New York, Singapore and Dubai.

Of course none of this happens without the sustained facilitation of London & Partners, London’s official publicity arm and the economic development organization that works to offer financial perks for all that relocation. Recent tax incentives have included the lowest corporate tax rate among G7 countries and a cornucopia of research and development tax credits. “Grow London, delivered by London & Partners, continues to support high growth companies from around the world to choose London for their international expansion, connect into our communities and meet their peers,” says Janet Coyle, managing director of business growth at London & Partners. “From Andreessen Horowitz picking London for its first office outside the U.S. to the Atlanta-based carbon credit fintech platform Cloverly expanding to London to support Mayor Sadiq Khan’s ambitious climate goals to become a zero-carbon, zero-pollution city by and a
zero-waste city by , London is one of the best places to scale a business.”

All those newcomers will need to fuel up, and this is the right place, especially these days, when the culinary industry is being reborn after dozens of the city’s most iconic restaurants shuttered over the pandemic. The city with a Top 5 restaurant scene globally is buzzing again with big-name openings like Dubai-based izakaya-style restaurant Kinoya in Harrods. Hundreds of other rooms are soon to join this increasingly daring culinary destination serving—and welcoming—the world once more.

Fortunately for them, dozens of newly opened and equally daring hotels await, none more exciting than the urban reimagining of the Art’otel, with its art-inspired rooms on the top levels of the recently reopened Battersea Power Station, a mids husk that today is stuffed with shops, restaurants, cinemas and a theater. Or the OWO Raffles in the Old War Office Building in Whitehall—it’s the first time the neo-Baroque building, used by the Ministry of Defence until the s, will open to the public.

Population
Metro: 13,,

A lot of city leaders talk about learning from the pandemic, but La Ville-Lumière is actually walking the walk, going all-in on those hard lessons and their applications to molecular urban change. While the face of Paris’s pandemic evolution is Mayor Anne Hidalgo and her aggressive empowerment of self-propelled mobility—from a city-wide speed limit of 18 miles per hour introduced in to the promise of miles of bike paths across most arrondissements by —it’s the citizenry’s embrace of this boldness that is changing the city’s fabric for good.

While the city is future-proofing itself with visionary sustainability and investment attraction (much more on that in a bit), it’s battling monumental social and economic challenges, perhaps unlike any other capital city. Paris has been wracked by unemployment and economic calamity since and ranks # in our Poverty Rate subcategory, which tracks residents living under the national poverty line. Despite its #2 overall global ranking for , the city ranks #14 in our top-line Prosperity index and the systemic inequality is a powder keg in and around the city. This summer, the city (and country) exploded after the fatal, point-blank shooting of French teenager Nahel Merzouk by Florian Menesplier, a police officer, in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Given the year-old’s Algerian and Moroccan descent, racism was alleged in the killing.

After a week of protests across the country, which caused an estimated billion dollars in damage, city life has gotten back to normal as investigations into systemic racism in the regional police force and the murder trial proceed. 

Even with the unrest, this summer looks to be one of the most lucrative ever by tourism spend. Of course, being able to enjoy a city ranked best in the world in our Sights & Landmarks subcategory, as well as #3 in Museums (the city has well over ), has a tendency to distract one from the perils of the modern world. 

Almost three years without Paris is certainly driving the voraciousness, but so is the euro being near par with the U.S. dollar of late. The city remains the most visited on the planet, with 44 million visitors last year, yet still 13% below levels.

Paris was also recently crowned the world’s most powerful urban tourist destination for by the World Travel & Tourism Council, with the city’s hospitality industry worth $ billion last year. And it’s projected to grow to $49 billion by

Good thing Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport used the past three years of lower volume to invest € million into a renovation of Terminal 1. Reopened this year, it now has a colossal junction building and a central lobby full of the latest tech to improve the traveler experience.

Rail access and infrastructure are also unprecedented. A seven-hour direct Berlin-to-Paris TGV line launches next year, with more ambitious directs like the Venice-to-Paris Midnight Trains coming in

No matter how they arrive, what Paris visitors new and returning will find is a city that has codified pedestrianism and alfresco living.

To ensure that cars didn’t take back control of Paris streets as pandemic urban pilot projects waned—as was the case in many other cities—Mayor Hidalgo legislated that the 60, parking spots loaned to restaurants for outdoor seating simply remained as outdoor seating. The same went for closing off lesser-driven streets entirely for public walking and seating for local businesses in need of additional outdoor space.

And nowhere is the transformation more dramatic than along the Seine, in the heart of Paris’s tourist district, near Notre-Dame Cathedral and city hall itself. With the reduced car traffic, this is now Paris’s town square (in a city with dozens of historic spots worthy of the honor). The riverside promenade hosts thousands night after night, even after Paris’s Right Bank summer event wrapped up. The Paris Plages urban beach initiative welcomes picnicking and other low-cost access to a city long criticized as pricey and exclusive.

Speaking of Notre-Dame, its reopening in after its devastating fire aligns with what will be a vital year for Paris, and for France, when the city also hosts the Olympic Summer Games, with many events integrated right into the revered urban fabric. 

And nothing would go further to demonstrate the city’s efficacy in achieving a cleaner, healthier Paris than being able to host swimming events for athletes and the general public post-Games. After wild Atlantic salmon first returned to the Seine 14 years ago, the river is today home to more than 30 species of fish, like trout, perch and eel. Considering Paris’s plan to hold the opening ceremonies not in a stadium but on floating outdoor stages, nursing this sacred river back to health would be incredibly poetic, even in a town that invented poetic gestures. Those Paris heatwaves certainly became more tolerable this past summer, when public swimming was allowed on select days for the first time in a century. The plan is for regular swimming spots by at the Bras Marie, Bras Grenelle and Simone de Beauvoir footbridge in Bercy.

The Champs-Élysées is next on the city leadership’s list, set to be transformed for the Games into a massive garden, with vehicle access cut in half and millions of euros invested in pedestrian-focused amenities.

The flood of new and renovated hotels in the city is also doubling down on coveted, elevated perches from which to meditate on the iconic views. The new Kimpton St Honoré and Hôtel Rochechouart are both topped by outdoor terraces, while the just-opened and Philippe Starck-designed Too Hôtel that soars above the city higher than any other is crowned with a giant, 3,square-foot glass cube with a bar and restaurant that serves up a view worthy of this enchanting cité.

Local economic development teams are also back at full speed, especially with the obvious inequality that sends citizens out into the streets every few months. Initiatives range from subsidized rents for shops in underserved ’hoods (the city has purchased abandoned spaces for this very purpose) to national talent attraction with direct local benefit.

In , President Macron committed €30 billion to the France plan: an effort to create “high-tech champions of the future” that is expected to yield French tech unicorns by the end of the decade. There are 26 today, with 20 of these in Paris and quickly establishing the city as a start-up hotbed, with the State of European Tech noting that France has seen the strongest growth in tech-focused job searches of any European country. And where do you think all that talent will pick as their new home base?

Population
Metro: 19,,

NYC between and was a ghastly reminder of the vulnerability of even the colossal and seemingly all-powerful; we saw here what awaited other cities across the U.S. and globally, first in its hospitals, then in its all-hands-on-deck recovery efforts. 

Today, NYC is also the urban recovery writ large. Sniping haters who declared that the big, vibrant, cheek-by-jowl city experiment was finally over as the urban exodus intensified in and vacancy in the city’s coveted real estate hit double digits were quickly silenced by the rebound. The mid-pandemic 50% drop in real estate sales shot up to the highest-ever median rents in Manhattan two years later (currently registering at a new all-time high of the mid-$5,s per month).

Tourism, the accelerant for so many of the city’s amenities, was a priority for a sustainable recovery, and city leaders are doing everything in their power to bring back not only those apprehensive New Yorkers whose hunger for regular bites of the Big Apple is finally being sated, but also the nearly 70 million people who visited in and spent $46 billion across its expansive quilt of Sights & Landmarks (ranked #13 globally). 

The city has no other choice: office occupancy remains about 50% of pre-pandemic levels, according to local numbers. For example, Bloomberg examined data from eight major Manhattan office buildings and discovered that “foot traffic is down about 52% on Fridays and 45% on Mondays compared with pre-COVID.” The domino effect is perilous: an estimated 40% drop in office market value as office towers sit partially empty could cost $5 billion in lost tax revenue (an astonishing 5% of the city’s annual budget). Subway ridership is equally concerning, resulting in service cuts.

Fortunately, tourism numbers have had a breathtaking return, from 33 million visitors in (less than half of ’s total) to 56 million last year—and onward to a projected 61 million in First order of business: getting those not already here to town. The suspension of travel for more than a year expedited the long-planned transformations of New York’s international gateways. LaGuardia Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport all have new terminals, with the new Terminal B at LaGuardia alone boasting 35 gates (to say nothing of the FAO Schwarz on site). The new Terminal C also came online last year. Newark Liberty International’s updated Terminal A has opened with 33 new gates and construction has started on a new, congestion-easing mile elevated guideway train system. JFK just unveiled , square feet of new and renovated space, and the New Terminal One opens later this decade. Back on the ground, Moynihan Train Hall is a new track expansion of Penn Station that, if you squint, could pass for a Northern European transit hub from the future.

With so many expected arrivals, NYC is certainly making sure everyone has a place to stay. Almost 10, new or renovated hotel rooms opened in alone, including the headline-grabbing Aman New York, an “urban sanctuary” on Fifth Avenue. Also open is the year-old Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad—named for its ’hood—which features Jose Andres’ Nubeluz lounge on the 50th floor and plenty of massive windows from which to watch the street action. Better yet, soak in the degree city panorama on the rooftop patio. The buildout stretches across the city, with a newly opened Thompson in Midtown, and new Renaissance Hotels properties in Harlem and Flushing. Moxy Hotels is also opening multiple locations in the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.

At street level, the city’s firehose turns cultural, with massive museums (ranking #6 globally) going all-in on expansions and new openings. The Louis Armstrong House Museum in Corona, Queens, is undergoing a physical and programmatic expansion for a new cultural center that includes an interactive exhibit, archival collections, a seat jazz club and a store. It should be open by the time you read this. The Bronx Children’s Museum also just reopened after moving to a new home in Mill Pond Park. Dia Chelsea is a new contemporary installation space, and the Frick Madison (the temporary home of the Frick Collection) has opened in the Breuer on Madison Avenue—a building formerly used by the Met. Speaking of the Met, New York’s year-old cultural institution (housing million objects and hosting seven million visitors in a non-pandemic year) announced a $million reno of its modern and contemporary wing. Not as storied but equally New York is the new Museum of Broadway, the first permanent museum dedicated to the famed heartland of the stage, which opened in Times Square with a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of major theater productions. Also: Broadway shows are back!

Two more very NYC reasons to experience the city now: marked the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip hop music, founded in the Bronx on August 11, , when Clive Campbell—better known as DJ Kool Herc—spun records at his sister’s birthday party. Dozens of local celebrations, exhibits and workshops will extend into It’s also the year anniversary of the underrated Museum of the City of New York, which celebrates and documents , objects, including photographs, prints, costumes, paintings and more, to allow NYC-philes to obsess over this place like nowhere else.

For those who prefer their immersion outdoors, classics like the High Line and Central Park are joined by the city’s newest green space, Little Island— acres floating on the Hudson near the Meatpacking District on the site of an old pier. Like most things here, you have to see it to believe it.

When it’s your turn to return to America’s best city, do yourself a favor and make time to see the phoenix rise from above: there are the classics, like the Empire State Building and the Top of the Rock, but there are also spectacular new perches, like SUMMIT One Vanderbilt and its all-glass exterior elevators, called Ascent. Go up, look down and breathe out. This city is back.

Population
Metro: 37,,

Despite earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons, Tokyo has long held on to its top spot as one of the most livable metropolises on the planet (quantified by its Top 3 global ranking this year). Young kids playing and walking to school unattended—a pre-pandemic mind-bender for visitors to the world’s largest city—is a common sight once more after three-plus years of lockdowns and intermittent school closures.

The disastrous Summer Olympics may be mercifully in the rear view, although the tens of billions spent on infrastructure to welcome the world that stayed away will saddle the region for years. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the city’s 2, hotels, inns and guest houses that opened during the pandemic (to say nothing of the dozens of shopping complexes and other tourist developments) are as ready for returning visitors as any destination on earth. 

The Japanese government remains steadfast, keeping its target of 60 million visitors and $ billion in tourism revenue by It’s not as delusional as it sounds: the country enjoyed record tourism for seven straight years and can now accommodate even more, with the expansion of the international terminal at Haneda, the city’s main airport (ranked #38 globally), and a planned minute rail link from arrivals to downtown by Tokyo holds on to its #1 spot for Shopping, helped by retail icons like Ginza’s luxury department stores, newly enhanced with the art-bedecked and sharply designed Ginza Six shopping center. The newly renovated Miyashita Park boasts 90 boutique shops and restaurants, plus a new hotel with a view of the famed Shibuya district, complete with volleyball courts and a skatepark sprawling over acres. Just opened is the retail-centric office development of Toranomon Hills and the larger Azabudai Hills, which will accommodate more than 20, workers in what is envisioned as a vertical city within a city.

Population
Metro: 5,,

Emerging from its origins as a free-spirited trading port, Singapore has undergone a remarkable transformation to emerge as one of Asia’s most modern, well-organized and captivating urban centers. 

Tourists in Singapore can immerse themselves in two favored local pastimes: shopping, which ranks #11 globally, and, of course, eating. The retail choices are staggering, from haute couture to electronics, from the countless shops adorning Orchard Road to the hour, six-story Mustafa Centre. The culinary landscape lives up to its #14 Restaurants ranking, buoyed by the popularity of the beloved spicy white pepper crab and the sweet, refreshing Singapore Sling. 

Capturing a photograph from the colossal rooftop infinity pool of Marina Bay Sands (poised to expand further with an additional 1,room hotel tower and a live entertainment arena) has become a symbolic ritual. On the opposite shoreline, Merlion Park, with its metallic, surfboard-like head, offers an even more iconic perspective. 

In the coming years, Singapore will focus on boosting prosperity (currently sitting pretty at #2), creating more green areas and building vibrant developments for work, education and play. The existing Changi Aviation Park will be expanded with the development of Changi East Industrial Zone, and a mega port in Tuas is set to be the world’s largest fully automated terminal when completed. Closer to the city, a new waterfront district is being explored just south of the airport, called the Great Southern Waterfront, which is slated to build 9, housing units along Singapore’s southern coast. Locals are also buzzing about the forthcoming NS Square, a future outdoor multipurpose venue in the Downtown Core area of Marina Bay that will replace the popular Marina Bay floating platform.

Population
Metro: 6,,

To a large part of the world’s population, Dubai is “The Vegas of Arabia,” a place that takes pride in turning every notion previously held about the Middle East on its head. Famed for outlandish developments like Palm Jumeirah, home to Atlantis, the Palm and the made-famous-by-Tom-Cruise Burj Khalifa—the tallest building in the world—the city has, over the years, made breaking world records a national pastime: tallest, longest, fastest, largest. Think of it, and the city’s probably done it. 

No wonder it ranks #8 in our Attractions subcategory, crammed with never-ending malls, aquariums, indoor ski parks, dancing fountains, fantasy theme parks and Disneyfied water playgrounds that pay homage to Hollywood, Bollywood, Marvel and Lego—as well as innumerable family-friendly resorts.

Catering to all these visitors is no small feat, which is why Dubai will soon have more hotel rooms than larger cities like London or New York, according to Zoom Property Insights. Leading the charge is Burj Al Arab, one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, renowned for its (self-presented) “seven-star status.” And now, with the number of rooms in the city soaring beyond , and many more new hotels and resorts in the pipeline, Dubai’s hotel and hospitality sector is poised for greatness. This will, in turn, create more and more jobs, and boost the city’s already high overall Prosperity ranking of #4. 

The focus now is on the city’s Urban Masterplan—as set out by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president and ruler of Dubai—which calls for developing a “minute city”—allowing residents access to 80% of their daily needs and destinations within 20 minutes by foot or bike, making the global city feel more like a home town.

Population
Metro: 4,,

Despite San Francisco’s meticulously documented challenges, job opportunities and infrastructure buildout pave the way as the world continues to rush in like it always has. Its #5 ranking in our overall Prosperity index is driven by high salaries that draw global workers who rank the sixth most educated on the planet. No wonder San Francisco ranks #33 for Global Companies. In fact, the Bay Area remains the number one place for start-up innovation, powered by venture capital kept interested in the city’s famed “ecosystem”—for talent, for research and for universities.

In Henley & Partners and New World Wealth’s “World’s Wealthiest Cities Report ,” San Francisco ranked third, tied with London and after New York and Tokyo, with , residing here in

Still, the city is in a crisis not seen in decades. Population decline was the worst among large U.S. counties between July and July (although it’s slowed recently). Equally terrifying, the city’s office vacancy fluctuates at around 30%. Even the proudest locals wring their hands as companies leave for Austin and Florida. And then tweet about how you should, too.

Undeterred, local leaders are rolling out the most daring bike and pedestrian infrastructure in America and the protected bike network now boasts miles of bikeways, including 50 miles of new car-free/car-light streets in the past year alone. The aggressive pursuit of outdoor public spaces—from downtown’s new Salesforce Park, 70 feet above street level atop the roof of the Salesforce Transit Center, to the half-dozen parks, tunnels and spaces opened last year in the Presidio alone (including Presidio Tunnel Tops, a acre park built over the Presidio Parkway highway tunnels)—was a clinic in city-building opportunism that will pay dividends for decades.

Population
Metro: 5,,

Barcelona threads the needle as one of the world’s rare cities that ranks Top 10 in both our overall Livability (#10) and Lovability (#7) indices. It has near-perfect weather year-round, more than three miles of golden sandy beaches within city limits, iconic parks, striking architecture and diverse, era-spanning neighborhoods that are destinations at all hours, many fueled by the city’s Top 3
nightlife ranking.

Can you blame the 12 million annual tourists who flocked here pre-pandemic, more than doubling the city’s population? Barcelona responded with some of the strictest vacation rental rules anywhere, aimed at controlling the effects of runaway tourism—like real estate investors who snatch up apartments only to rent them on Airbnb, depleting an already limited supply. The city also elected Mayor Ada Colau, the first woman to hold the role, on a Barcelona-for-citizens platform. Ultimately the pandemic took care of “the tourist problem,” with devastating results. But even as the tide of tourists once again washes over the city, what they find is a more citizen-focused place, increasingly self-propelled and non-vehicular, with more than miles of new bike lanes and daring initiatives like Eixos Verds (Green Axis), a network of quieter roads that share space equally between cars, bikes and pedestrians, and are dotted with benches and community squares. The inspiration germinated from a local pilot project that, unsurprisingly, improved citizen mental health.

The city is also no longer content with digital nomads, and is aggressively securing massive foreign investment, ranging from Lufthansa Group, the largest airline group in Europe, which is opening its first southern European digital hub here any day now, to U.S. real estate developer Panattoni, which will invest $ million to build the largest data center in
the region.

Population
Metro: 2,,

Mayor Halsema’s administration is showing a practical stewardship of a place (and citizens) once abandoned to the tourist euro that’s co-authoring a future of accountability by everyone who calls the magnetic Dutch capital home. Take last year’s approach to a refugee accommodation crisis that led to hundreds of unhoused migrants, many fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sleeping outside the city’s overflowing resource centers: accommodate more than 1, on a moored cruise ship for six months, buying vital time to find other arrangements. 

Not surprisingly, this care for others and willingness for locals to do the work is represented by the city’s Top 5 ranking in our overall Livability index. The sometimes out-of-control nightlife (ranked #10 globally) that the city was known and often marketed for—despite the attendant human trafficking—was another opportunity to right long-time local complaints, with local leaders going so far as to move the red-light district out of the famed De Wallen neighborhood to a suburban Erotic Center while banning non-residents from cannabis cafés and ditching tours that glorify the city’s baser side. Things escalated this spring, when smoking pot in public was banned outright and the city launched a “stay away” campaign targeting party tourism. Restaurants and bars will be asked to close by 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and the city will not allow new visitors into the old city district after 1 a.m.

Stepping in for vice are tours and programs focusing on the city’s enviable livability and Dutch history. And getting tourists (who numbered 22 million in ) away from the city center and out to the #8-ranked shopping and #ranked museums that pepper the city. 

Oh, and this past summer, city council also banned cruise ships from the city center as part of its clean-air efforts.

Population
Metro: 23,,

In the land of kimchi, K-pop, K-dramas and K-beauty, Seoul is at the forefront of modern culture with many distinctions—home to BTS, the biggest-selling band in the world; the place that spawned Parasite, the genre-bending best-picture Oscar-winner; the city anchored by Gwangjang Market, featured on Netflix, frequented by Gordon Ramsay and a favorite
of U.S. politicos.

In an astonishingly short span, South Korea’s capital has ed from war-ravaged city to high-tech hub. Its e-governance system and Fourth Industrial Revolution are thriving, creating a digitally interconnected city on 5G and 6G networks. The city’s ascent is boosted by our eighth-lowest Poverty Rate ranking, sixth-most Global firms located in town, and a growing start-up ecosystem waiting its turn to disrupt the incumbents. All that innovation is sated by the Michelin-rated venues that have earned Seoul a #3 ranking in our Restaurants subcategory. Start at Mukja Golmok, literally “Let’s Eat Alley”; move on to the vegetable-centric temple cuisine at Dooreyoo, Michelin-starred chef Tony Yoo’s oasis; then head to Gwangjang Market, where you can eat everything from a soup of rice cakes and kimchi-tofu dumplings to squirmy live octopus (really).

Seoul&#;s popularity as a travel destination is ascendant post-pandemic, too. In , it ranked as the fourth-most searched destination on Airbnb globally, and in , the government is investing millions in international conferences by expediting three MICE clusters within the city. As the Korean wave continues to crest and break in distant lands, this charismatic city is creating a new paradigm for culture and commerce, which in turn has thousands flocking to its shores.

Population
Metro: 4,,

Few cities serve up the ability to walk Western history like Roma. Heck, Palatine Hill alone invites you into two millennia’s worth if you’ve got an hour. And that’s just the stuff you can see. In recent months, construction projects have unearthed everything from a rare fourth-century golden glass depiction of Roma—the goddess personifying the city—to a life-sized marble statue of a Roman emperor dressed as Hercules. “The millennial history of our city never ceases to amaze and enchant the world,” tweeted Roberto Gualtieri, mayor of Rome, after a recent find. Mix in underrated parks and greenways (Rome ranks #28 in our Outdoors subcategory) and its thousands of portals back in time (Sights & Landmarks rank #4 globally) and it’s easy to see how Rome remains an urban treasure, drawing record post-pandemic tourists despite historic heat waves that exceeded degrees Fahrenheit in July. Declarations of love for the city have multiplied with social media channels, of course, and Rome trails only London in our global Tripadvisor Reviews subcategory. The city is reopening fast, with new restaurants like Pulejo, Don Pasquale and Romanè, and properties like the country’s first Six Senses resort.

Population
Metro: 2,,

Pandemic lockdowns derailed tourism in Prague, and over the past year the city made long-lasting decisions to ensure that its #4-ranked Museums (ahead of places like Rome and Berlin) and #3-ranked Attractions (trailing only London and Tokyo) remain accessible to the citizens who supported local when tourism didn’t. Places like the Čapadlo embankment on the Vltava River have become open-air stages and galleries reminiscent of Paris. Náplavka, with its former ice-storage spaces ensconced in the river’s retaining walls, was reborn as a vibrant urban market and series of pop-up bars. Prague’s compact, fairy-tale walkability enchants in centuries-old cobbled streets and the (publicly accessible) hilltop Prague Castle, which has emerged from lockdown alongside Salm Palace—home to National Gallery exhibition spaces—fully renovated. The Baroque Clam-Gallas Palace in Old Town is also newly reopened and eager to be admired. The city’s four universities, relative affordability and #4 Nightlife ranking have inspired young talent and billions in foreign investment to pour in—from real estate developers to long-established firms like Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle doubling down
on a good thing.

Population
Metro: 7,,

Madrid’s sustainability-driven investment in its bounteous (but long-dormant) infrastructure and public assets is a wonder to watch unfold in real time. It starts, not surprisingly, with reuse and the conviction that everything old can be new again. Take the new Santander Park, an instant citizen and visitor destination that used to be a golf course. A mile urban forest network with nearly half a million new trees will connect the city’s existing forest masses and reuse derelict sites between roads and buildings. Upon completion, this “green wall” is projected to help absorb , tons of carbon dioxide annually and mitigate the city’s worsening urban heat. The investment in the city’s outdoor realm will improve Madrid’s #65 ranking in our Outdoors subcategory, especially combined with how safe the city has become, along with its tied top spot for Walk Score globally. Madrid’s electric bus network trails only Berlin in Europe and new charging stations and bike lanes are everywhere. But the biggest news is this year’s full approval of Madrid Nuevo Norte, the largest current urban regeneration project in Europe, in the city’s underused northern rail district: more than acres dedicated to the Madrid of the future.

Population
Metro: 4,,

Berlin is a city where remnants of a fragile history mingle with a present in which being whatever you want simply comes with residency. Today, waves of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion are joining North Africans, Afghanis and dozens of other groups seeking a new life. It’s a big reason why the city ranks #23 in our Start-ups subcategory, and #29 in Labor Force Participation. Its #50 ranking for Educational Attainment among residents will only climb with ambitious new citizens. The city is as culturally devoted as it is welcoming. This is the home of Museum Island, after all, and the city’s Top 5 ranking globally in our Museums subcategory will also ascend with recent and upcoming openings. Two major museums have moved into the new Humboldt Forum in the heart of the city: the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art. A dozen more will open, dedicated to everything from samurai to video games. Another exciting development is the ongoing cultural and creative evolution of Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport, Europe’s largest historic monument, with the curve of the building stretching 3/4 of a mile. In , the anticipated Museum of the 20th Century will launch as one of Europe’s finest.

Population
Metro: 12,,

Centennial milestones were all the rage in Los Angeles, and the chance to experience the celebrations will stretch into and improve the city’s impressive #11 Attractions ranking globally. The biggie: the Hollywood Sign. In a recent study commissioned by Los Angeles Tourism, nearly 80% of respondents affirmed it as L.A.’s most iconic landmark. Also celebrating a century are Warner Bros. Studios and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, as hallowed an American ground as you’ll find and home to both the first Super Bowl in and multiple Olympic Games (including the upcoming Summer Games, when L.A. will become the first place in the U.S. to host the event three times). The world is curious (indicated by the #4 ranking for global Google searches, which powers a #13 finish in our overall Lovability index). The next two years are equally frenzied for the city’s arts and culture scene. Both the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum’s NHM Commons
open in , followed by the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, founded by philanthropist
and filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson, co-CEO and president of
Ariel Investments.

Population
Metro: 9,,

Three years of pandemic decimation and spiking inflation only meant the Windy City was spring-loaded for a breakout , powered by a fully operational O’Hare International, ranked #7 globally. Meetings and conventions are also back, pouring into McCormick Place and its stunning Lake Michigan perch, ranked #38 in our Convention Center subcategory. The city’s quiet productivity is humming again, leaner and more efficient than ever, with the 19th-most Global headquarters on the planet. Even amid the post-pandemic headlines of emptying city cores, Chicago was named the top U.S. metro area for corporate investment for an astonishing 10th consecutive year by Site Selection, a magazine that tracks urban real estate and corporate development. The reason? “The metro area continues to attract companies and the talent those companies covet.” The local food scene (#31) is also ascendant, powered by daring new openings and recently immortalized by FX series The Bear. In , all eyes will be on South Chicago’s Jackson Park. Its $million Obama Presidential Center opens the following year as a museum and public gathering space looking to welcome , annual visitors and generate a long-term economic impact of $3 billion.

Population
Metro: 6,,

The ubiquity of D.C. in dramas on screens small and large, combined with the shocking events of recent years, means we’re all thinking about Washington. Want proof? It once again topped not only all U.S. cities for searches on Google in the past year, but globally as well. Given its omnipresence, there are few cities so poised to build on their exposure. “There is currently $ billion in development underway and the city has added new hotels, museums, rooftops, Michelin-rated dining and more for travelers to explore,” says Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC. Those openings include the launch of the room Royal Sonesta Capitol Hill, joining new properties like the AC Hotel Washington DC Capitol Hill Navy Yard and the Pendry Washington DC – The Wharf. And speaking of The Wharf, phase two of the massive Southwest Waterfront development just opened, creating yet another destination neighborhood in a city packed with them. New and reopening museums include the 32,square-foot Rubell Museum DC in a historically Black public school, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the world’s only major art museum solely dedicated to championing female artists.

Population
Metro: 18,,

Enigmatic hutongs whisper tales of emperors and concubines; next to them, towering skyscrapers reflect Beijing’s rapid global ascent. The city’s 3,year-old history comes alive across seven UNESCO World Heritage sites, punctuated by the modern Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium and the Guardian Art Center—the world’s first custom-built auction house. No longer does “Peking” observe world affairs from the sidelines; today’s Beijing is keen to solidify China’s position as the world’s second-largest economy. President Xi Jinping speaks of Beijing’s commitment to peace and democracy—a stark contrast to allegations of using the Beijing Olympics to “sportwash” perceptions of human rights. This may be the reason the city scores high on our Livability and Prosperity indices (#11 and #16, respectively) but has a long way to go on Lovability (#78)—something the government is aware of, and is seemingly taking steps to address. With the Global Security and Global Development initiatives externalizing internal policies—as seen at Beijing Daxing Airport’s new innovation center, which facilitates entry of foreign enterprises into the Chinese market—Beijing aims to create an environment that supports sovereignty, security and development, meaning the “Forbidden City” would be forbidden no more.

Population
Metro: 15,,

The ancient collision between Europe and Asia radiates in Türkiye’s kinetic capital. It’s why the city is among the most beguiling for its sense of place, inside and out. Its Top 10 Sights & Landmarks ranking, as well as its #18 spot in our Outdoors subcategory, will both improve after extensive renovations for the Turkish Republic’s centennial in October The devastating February earthquakes that killed tens of thousands in the country’s southeast and in Syria (and that flooded the capital with survivors) have sounded the alarms about Istanbul’s own preparation for an inevitable destructive quake. The tragedy has cast a pall around new openings like Galataport, Istanbul’s reinvigorated historic harbor. Extending a mile along the Bosporus Strait near the city’s long-coveted Karaköy district, the $billion project boasts the world’s first-ever underground cruise terminal. More recently, the luxury Peninsula Istanbul opened in February, capping a blazing year for hotel openings that includes the seafront luxury resort JW Marriott Marmara Sea and a dozen others. The city’s #ranked museums also get a boost from the Galataport investment, with the Istanbul Modern, the city’s first contemporary art museum (designed by Renzo Piano), returning to its Karaköy roots.

Population
Metro: ,

Safe, gregarious and increasingly wealthy, the Celtic Tiger has never been fiercer, ranking #6 globally in our GDP per Capita subcategory and Top 25 for Global firms that call the city home. The magnetism is obvious in places like the Docklands area, known as Silicon Docks, home to big tech and digital players including Google, Meta, Amazon, eBay, Apple and Airbnb. They come for some of the world’s lowest corporate taxes and stay for homegrown economic development initiatives like Ireland’s Local Enterprise Office, which supports international companies with mentoring, training and financial grants. Several internationally renowned universities (Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and Dublin City University) help the city attract start-ups looking for a smaller, more affordable capital center. U.S. software firm Workday opened its new European headquarters last year, as did Kara Connect, an employee well-being platform from Iceland. It helps to be able to offer eager young employees something to do outside of work, which Dublin’s famous—though increasingly costly—pub-centric nightlife (ranked #16) does, along with an abundance of concerts, shows and events (Culture ranks #21). Of course, being among the safest capitals on the planet helps, too.

Population
Metro: 1,,

Is there another city today that resonates as the global benchmark for urban livability, sustainability and equity more than the Austrian capital? Yes, it ranks Top 3 in our Walk Score and Biking subcategories, but it also excels in housing: in an era of prohibitive global urban rents, 60% of the city’s population resides in subsidized apartments and 25% of homes are owned by the city. And it’s tackling the climate emergency: last year, city leaders announced carbon neutrality by , besting the Paris Agreement by a decade. Food security commitments yield over 5, acres of fields, vineyards and gardens within city limits. That gives Vienna’s current #56 spot in our Restaurants subcategory room to ascend with authentic localism, especially thriving vegetarian spots like Tian, winner of a Michelin Green Star for sustainable gastronomy in Also helping this green journey are the new, fully automated X-Wagen trains connecting the city’s U-Bahn stations, with buildout happening throughout the decade. The best part? The trains are built almost exclusively at the Siemens factory in town. Equally exciting is the massive new Aspern Seestadt urban development that insists residents walk, bike and use public transit on local streets (that are—finally!—named after women).

Population
Metro: 4,,

The birthplace of Armani, Versace and dozens of other megawatt icons is no longer content with its crown as Europe’s fashion and design center. Or even as Italy’s financial heart. Milan is driven, as always, by its entrepreneurial hunger and is increasingly fueled by wealthy newcomers lured to the famed good life by government tax breaks (like capping income tax on money made abroad at €, annually). The result is an influx of Brexit (and Russian) capital seeking a home, and the flurry of luxury real estate, hotels and social clubs that such capital inspires. The Ferragamo-owned Lungarno Collection unveiled the Portrait Milano in one of Europe’s oldest seminaries, complete with a massive piazza. U.S. networking broker Core Club is opening in a nearby palazzo, its first outside of San Francisco and New York City. This strategic proximity to other European capitals and alpine resorts pulling in the global elite also won the city the Olympic Winter Games and a rush of development. Residents and visitors keep fit via the city’s shared #1 spot globally for Walk Score ranking, and #4 spot in our Biking subcategory.

Population
Metro: 6,,

All the buzz you’re hearing about North America’s second-largest financial center doesn’t even come close to doing justice to what’s going on in Toronto right now. The city is the welcoming front door to a country on the hunt for new skilled immigrants. Already, half of Toronto’s population was born outside of Canada, and the city will blow past 7 million by the time you read this, on its way to trailing only Mexico City and New York in North American populations by the s. Today, its cranes more than quadruple second-place Seattle’s count of All that construction is optimizing and streamlining an emergent global destination city, from the reopening of its century-old Massey Hall to the massive new Renzo Piano-designed Ontario Court of Justice that combined six older buildings under one roof. Much-needed downtown green space has been added with Love Park, featuring a heart-shaped pond and built on the site of a former Gardiner Expressway off-ramp with access to the city’s lakefront. Coming up, the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts is getting a $million facelift and will be Canada’s first carbon-neutral theater upon reopening in

Population
Metro: 4,,

A hub of higher education and home to the 14th-most educated workforce on the planet, Beantown produces a steady stream of new talent to help attract start-ups and established companies alike. Future talent gravitates to Harvard, of course—the top-ranked university in the world—as well as to Boston’s density of other world-class universities and colleges. The region bursts with lecture halls, labs and classrooms for the more than 75 institutions of higher learning, energized by the estimated , postsecondary students creating stories, ideas, solutions and technologies with global influence. No wonder the city ranks #8 globally for GDP per Capita. The buildout of America’s newest (oldest) urban destination, buoyed by billions in federal stimulus funds, is also afoot. Hotel inventory is projected to grow by 5, new rooms by , fueled by the 1,room Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport on the South Boston Waterfront near the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, and the first Raffles property in North America. The city’s cultural clout is also ascendant courtesy of the Fenway Sports Group and Live Nation’s new MGM Music Hall at Fenway, a 5,seat concert hall that extends the iconic ballpark.

Population
Metro: 1,,

Sandstone walls tell tales of Arabian nights, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque sings a symphony of white marble and Islamic motifs, the enigmatic Louvre Abu Dhabi rises proudly on Saadiyat Island—all against the backdrop of opulent hotels, megamalls and ATMs that quite literally dispense bars of gold. From a pearl diving port that housed mangroves and gazelles to an oil-and-gas superpower to a global arts and culture destination, Abu Dhabi has, time and again, reinvented itself in ways big—and bigger. The emirate tops our overall Prosperity index, but its Livability ranking is on the other end of the spectrum (#)—which means there’s a lot of work to do. As part of its growth roadmap for , the emirate aims to invest upwards of $12 billion into culture and tourism, helping diversify the economy away from oil and drawing in more visitors. This puts Saadiyat Island in the limelight—as host to performances and exhibitions at Manarat Al Saadiyat and Berklee Abu Dhabi, and future home of the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, the new local Guggenheim, Zayed National Museum and teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi.

Population
Metro: 3,,

Budapest has emerged as a European capital post-pandemic, coveted by digital nomads looking for urban vibrancy on a budget and without the rigid establishment of the old, old Europe. The city, which is split by the expansive bend of the Danube River, delivers in spades. On the west bank is medieval Buda, hilly and full of history, and on the east is Pest, modern and bohemian, with its recently revamped City Park. The two were first linked in by the iconic Széchenyi Chain Bridge and together they now offer an alluring whole that ranks #8 globally for Attractions and in the top 25 for Museums, which include the must-see Museum of Fine Arts along with a dozen other niche ones, from the Szamos Chocolate Museum, to an epic Pinball Museum. At night, Budapest’s Communist-era factories and parkades come alive as “ruin bars,” a distinctly Eastern European approach that keeps the city’s nightlife (ranked #16) reinventing itself. Budapest is also suddenly a luxury property hot spot, with the new Matild Palace—the city’s first Luxury Collection hotel—opening inside a UNESCO landmark last year, joining newcomer Párisi Udvar Hotel.

Population
Metro: 23,,