What makes a great city? An abundance of cultural landmarks? Affordable rent? Accessibility to green spaces? A banging culinary scene and some darn good boozers?
For Canadian tourism and real estate advisory firm Resonance Consultancy, the answer is all of the above. Using a rigorous metric of 28 categories, Resonance has unveiled its official ranking of best cities worldwide for 2025. So, who made the cut?
Before we get to that you might be wondering, how does it all work? Well, here’s the science-ish bit. Resonance measures each city against three broad categories; liveability ( things like rent, air quality and healthcare), loveability (we’re talking nightlife, shopping and culture) and lastly prosperity (universities, airport connectivity and GDP). The testing is thorough, even considering things as niche as Instagram hashtags and TripAdvisor reviews.
It comes as no surprise that London not only makes the list but tops it. The UK capital has clinched the top spot not two, not three, but 10 years in a row. London wipes the floor with its competitors, beating runners up New York and Paris with a staggering seven wins across 28 categories. You can find out more about why London came first on Time Out here.
The UK’s second addition on the leaderboard takes us all the way to bonnie Scotland, with Glasgow coming in at number 72. Beating Warsaw and Sao Paolo by a whisker, Glasgow’s rich cultural capital and multiple historic universities firmly consolidate its place on the leaderboard. Resonance heralds Glasgow’s character and affordability as key, arguing the city’s recent tech growth has not come at the expense of its ‘realness’ and unpretentious charm.
The third UK city to make the list, at 94, was Birmingham. Birmingham’s bloody good nightlife and world-renowned universities are well-known, but it’s also a hotbed for new industry and success-hungry young professionals. Brum is back on the map, or at least, according to our friends across the pond it is.
You can read the full list of Resonance’s top 100 cities for 2025 here.
Time Out’s ultimate guide to everything to see, do, eat and drink in Glasgow.
And the same for Birmingham.
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