London has been named The World’s Best City for 2023 by Resonance. With London being our home and favourite city, we’re not surprised by this award! But what does The Big Smoke offer that’s made it win this title? We dive into the details, so you can start planning your trip to The World’s Best City!
Who Chooses The World’s Best City?
The World’s Best City award is given by the ‘Best Cities’ report by Resonance. According to the report Resonance have been leading advisors in tourism for the past 15 years. They take on extensive research to see exactly what makes each urban centre unique.
Resonance this year, have not only awarded their regular World’s Best City award, but have also given an honorary World’s Best City award to Kyiv in Ukraine.
What Factors into Choosing the Winner?
Resonance use quantitative and qualitative evaluations by locals and tourists to decide where will win the best city. These factors fall into 6 different categories, each with its own individual sub-categories.
Place
Place takes into account a number of factors that a city is scored against, including the average number of sunny days, the average violent crime rate, the number of landmarks and neighbourhoods recommended by both locals and tourists alike, and the number of parks and outdoor activities.
Product
Product takes into account more of the physical side of the city, from airport connectivity, to the number of attractions and museums recommended by visitors, the score of the top university in the city, and the size of the largest convention centre.
Programming
Programming relates to culture, with the elements including: the number of cultural and performing arts experiences recommended by locals, the nightlife that’s on offer, the number of restaurants recommended by visitors and locals, and how many high quality shopping experiences there are.
People
A city’s diversity adds to the overall feeling you experience whilst you’re there. The subsections of this category include home any people who live there participate in the workforce, as well as the number of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Prosperity
Prosperity leans on economic factors of a city, including the number of Global Fortune 500 companies, GDP per capita, employment rate, and income equality.
Promotion
Promotion is all about social media with contributing factors to choosing The World’s Best City including Facebook check ins, Google search, TripAdvisor reviews, Instagram hashtags, and Google trends.
Why London is The World’s Best City for 2023
The report names London as 2023’s World’s Best City. With highlights being both the nightlife and museums. London has come ahead of both Paris (in 2nd place), and New York (in 3rd place). With so many free museums in London, as well as a fabulous range of places you can also pay to go in – we’re not surprised these have been noted as a highlight.
Other factors that have caused London to win this year’s competition include the number of tech investors that have chosen the city as their business’s home, as well as the number of multi million pound properties sold in 2022.
The report also notes how big a year 2022 was for London, from the Platinum Jubilee in the city, to the later funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London. London really was on the world stage in 2022.
Another noteworthy point is how good London is from a culinary perspective, coming out as the fourth best city in the world for restaurants. The culinary scene in London has been ever expanding in London since the end of the pandemic and there’s no signs of it slowing down anytime soon.
Do you agree with the judgement that London is The World’s Best City? We certainly do – but we have to admit we’re quite biassed.
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