We’ve all got our opinions on where Sydney stands as a city: with some people (yours truly) proclaiming this city to be undoubtedly the best in the world, and others taking a more critical lens. Earlier this year, Time Out released its global list of the world’s best cities, and the Harbour City ranked in 15th place. Now, we’ve got a new title to share – consultancy firm Resonance has released its annual list of the best cities in the Asia Pacific region, and the Harbour City has ranked in seventh place.
Back in November, Resonance released its list of the best cities in the world for 2025, with Sydney coming in an impressive tenth place overall. The Harbour City’s stunning landmarks, excellent air quality and high liveability are some of the factors that gained it such a high score on the global index, and these factors (among others) helped Sydney rank as the Asia Pacific region’s seventh best city for 2025.
To determine which cities should rank among the best, the team at Resonance analyse a number of factors – from air quality to prosperity – and use their findings to rate the "liveability" and "loveability" of a city.
With the second-best air quality in the whole of Asia Pacific, Sydney has ranked as the fifth most “liveable” city in Asia Pacific for 2025, and in seventh place on the "loveability" scale. Other points contributing to the Harbour City’s high score include the recent revitalisation of Sydney's CBD and the focus by the NSW government on improving the city’s nighttime economy, with Resonance citing the city's “24-Hour Economy Strategy” as a key factor in securing us seventh place on the list. Sydney’s recently-expanded Art Gallery of New South Wales also got a mention, with the award-winning Sydney Modern Project (Naala Badu) attracting the attention of the team. In terms of prosperity, Sydney ranked as the ninth-most prosperous city in the region, with the city’s focus on tech, innovation and urban renewal to thank.
Although Sydney was the highest-ranking Australian city on the list, our friends down in Melbourne also got a mention – our southern neighbour ranked as the ninth best city in the region for 2025.
The 10 best cities in Asia Pacific for 2025 are:
- Singapore
- Tokyo
- Seoul
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Bangkok
- Sydney
- Shanghai
- Melbourne
- Kuala Lumpur
You can check out Resonance’s full list of the best cities in the Asia Pacific region here.