Barcelona consolidates itself as one of the main urban destinations in the world. The city has climbed three positions in the World's Best Cities ranking, published by the consultancy Resonance Consultancy and which, according to Bloomberg agency, is "the most complete study" published as a result of a comparison of global cities, since it takes into account not only its tourist appeal, but also the habitability that the city offers its citizens based on different parameters that range from cultural and entertainment offerings to various economic, social, and urban indicators. According to this publication, Barcelona is the sixth best city in the world to live and work in the ranking of the best cities in the world, behind London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, and Dubai, and ahead of other cities with more than a million inhabitants, such as Rome, Madrid (8th place), Singapore, Amsterdam, Prague, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Berlin, or Hong Kong. This year, the ranking, which analyzes one hundred cities, honorarily awards Kyiv and recognizes the courage, resilience, and bravery of the Ukrainian capital.
The experts at Resonance Consultancy define Barcelona as "the almost ideal European city", thanks to enjoying "almost perfect weather all year round" which allows its citizens to enjoy the kilometers of beach on its coastline, emblematic parks, "surprising architecture" and "colorful neighborhoods" which it defines as artistic, sophisticated, and bohemian.
"With these attributes, it is not surprising that Barcelona ranks sixth in the ranking of the best cities in the world and that the city has reached 12 million annual tourists," explains the World's Best Cities report. The classification especially highlights Barcelona's commitment to being a greener city and the initiatives that have been carried out to correct tourist oversaturation. "Barcelona responded with some of the strictest restrictions" regarding the regulation of tourist rentals and other measures to prevent the exhaustion of the real estate supply, notes the publication, which also mentions the "catastrophic" consequences that the pandemic had for the restaurant sector.
"Fortunately, tourism is returning," they state. According to World's Best Cities, new visitors will find a city with more difficulties for vehicle access, as there has been a commitment to restrict traffic in certain areas, significantly increase the number of bike lanes, and implement Superblocks, "replacing parking lots and streets with playgrounds and spaces to sit." In this regard, the ranking highlights the transformation of Paseo de San Juan into a green corridor with bike lanes, wide sidewalks, vegetation, and outdoor seating. The start of the renovation of La Rambla to "make it more walkable and with fewer cars" is also mentioned, and reference is also made to the project to "reopen the impressive 17th-century Teatre Principal in 2024."
The consultancy Resonance, promoter of this prestigious independent report, follows its own methodology based on 6 areas and ranks the 100 best cities in the world with more than one million inhabitants, through a combination of statistics and opinions from locals and visitors. Barcelona stands out especially in the areas of place (6th position) and product (5th position). Place refers to the perceived quality of the city, an indicator that incorporates aspects such as climate, safety, the idiosyncrasy of the neighborhoods, and the places of interest in its surroundings. Product encompasses all the attractions the city has, its institutions, key infrastructures, airport connectivity, museums, university rankings, the availability of convention centers, and even the professional sports teams it has.
The other four areas examined by the report are programming (configured by the cultural agenda, gastronomy, nightlife, entertainment, and commercial offerings); people (immigration rate, diversity, and educational level); prosperity (economic indicators that measure the number of corporate headquarters of large companies, GDP per capita, job availability, and employment rate); and promotion, which collects the amount of stories, references, and recommendations shared online about a city, including Google search results, Google Trends, Facebook registrations, Instagram hashtags, and TripAdvisor reviews.
In the Place category, the first city in the ranking is Dubai. London (in 16th place in place) is first in the global ranking and also leads the areas people, product, promotion and programming. In the prosperity area, the number 1 city is Doha. Regarding these other areas, Barcelona is in position number 7 in programming, 12 in promotion, 53 in people and 154 in prosperity. Madrid stands out especially in the programming area (6th position).
THE 25 BEST CITIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO THE 'WORLD'S BEST CITIES' RANKING
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