Top 15 Best & Beautiful Cities In The World
Which are the best and beautiful cities in the world?
Well, a new poll by international culture and entertainment magazine Time Out answers this exact question. The outlet questioned 27,000 city-dwellers from Melbourne to Madrid, Chicago to Copenhagen and Tel Aviv to Tokyo to find out the best cities in the world. The poll recognises all the great things these places have achieved over the past 18 months during the Covid-19 crisis.
They were ranked not solely based on the food and culture but also the community projects, green space, and sustainability projects. In short, the cities which were not only thinking about the now but also the future. Cities that were trying to make life better for the present and next generation.
The List of The Top 15 Best and Beautiful Cities In The World in 2021/2022
1. San Francisco, California, United States of America
2. Amsterdam, Netherlands
3. Manchester, United Kingdom
4. Copenhagen, Denmark
5. New York, United States of America
6. Montreal, Canada
7. Prague, Czech Republic
8. Tel Aviv, Israel
9. Porto, Portugal
10. Tokyo, Japan
11. Los Angeles, America
12. Chicago, America
13. London, England
14. Barcelona, Spain
15. Melbourne, Australia
Which Are The Top Best and Beautiful Cities In The World in 2021/2022?
1. San Francisco, California, United States of America
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| San Francisco is the best city in the world right now |
Why San Francisco is the best city in the world?
High vaccination rates paired with plenty of outdoor dining and quality cannabis make SF the ideal place to be right now.
San Francisco has never been known to follow the pack. And when things got tough over the past year, SF sprang into action with one of the strictest Covid responses in the US. But that didn’t dampen community spirit in the Bay Area: businesses got creative to stay afloat, while innovative initiatives like the SF New Deal put restaurant employees to work making meals for those in need.
Neighbours stepped up to take care of each other through far-reaching mutual aid networks, and one genius even had the idea of hanging sourdough starters from trees to fuel all the baking people took up.
San Francisco is, in many ways, the ideal spot to ride out the pandemic with year-round mild weather, a thriving restaurant and take-out scene, high-quality cannabis, and endless, accessible, adventures in nature – from hikes in wine country to days spent lounging on the beach. Now, as the city enjoys high vaccination rates (and rules banning the unvaccinated from many indoor spaces), it’s one of the safest places to enjoy the kind of city life we've all been missing.
| Hundreds of beautifully crafted parklets that now make the city feel like one giant street party (plus the kind of weather that allows for outdoor dining year round). "This former hippie enclave came first in the ‘progressive’ category – with 73 percent of respondents describing it as such – and second in ‘sustainability’. It was also the most likely to be called ‘accepting’. - Clara Hogan, Time Out San Francisco. |
2. Amsterdam, Netherlands
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| Amsterdam - Best Cities In the World |
During the pandemic, Amsterdam has felt the absence of culture and social life more acutely than most. Yet the city has used the time wisely, focusing inwards on its famous beauty, history and community spirit – while vowing to do away with the coffeeshops, brothels and drunken debauchery that so blighted its historic centre. In this year’s poll, 47 percent of Amsterdammers said the city was ‘green’ and 27 percent described it as sustainable. That may sound low, but for those descriptors, Amsterdam’s scores were among the highest.
During last year’s lockdowns, the city aimed to cement its status as a modern, environmentally-aware metropolis. Seemingly, the strategy has worked.
| You can only imagine locals felt relieved. In Amsterdam last March, lockdown set in and tourism was put on pause. For the first time in forever, there weren’t tens of thousands of travellers gawping at girls, lighting up in coffeeshops, ordering poffertjes and stroopwafel on every corner. Amsterdam breathed. |
3. Manchester, England
The city came third in our annual ranking of the world’s greatest urban hubs.
Manchester sure is a resilient place. All things considered, we’ve thrived over the past year – with communities here really banding together through the toughest of times. Mancunians are a very proud people, and so it’s no wonder 71 percent described the city as ‘creative’ in this year’s Index.
This is the home of Factory Records, the Fall and the Smiths, after all, and in 2021 the likes of Manchester International Festival (MIF) and Grayson’s Art Club have continued to show this city really punches when it comes to big, splashy cultural events. On a more local level, small firms like Result CIC offered free mental health support to frontline workers, while the Eagle and Child pub gave away 4,500 meals to vulnerable locals.
| This place always comes together when times are hard. And it’s done that again. From my point of view – because we’ve obviously had some differences of opinion with the government through the pandemic – I can’t tell you what it means when I raise my voice and I look behind me and people are just there. The place comes together and it’s hard to put it into words how much it means: there’s just a sense of right and wrong here.’ - Andy Burnham is a big fan of Manchester and the mayor of the city. |
4. Copenhagen, Denmark
Denmark is widely regarded as one of the happiest places in the world, so it makes sense that 66 percent of Copenhageners said the city was ‘relaxing’ in our poll. General quality of life is high here, and no doubt the city’s many innovative green initiatives help put locals’ minds at ease: 60 percent of us think of the city as ‘green’.
But there’s so much more to Copenhagen than hygge and radical dual-purpose energy plants like CopenHill. In fact, 82 percent of residents find it easy to discover ‘new and surprising things’ in the city – and we can all raise a glass of aquavit to that.
5. New York, America
If there’s one thing that defines New Yorkers, it’s a certain brash resilience. That’s why it doesn’t come as a huge surprise that NYC got high marks for just that quality in this year’s survey, coming in as the ‘most resilient’ of all North American cities. From the continued success of its Open Restaurants initiative (which transformed sidewalks into vibrant community hubs) to its new Key to NYC programme (encouraging vaccine uptake), Gotham has managed to survive and thrive over the past 12 months.
Thanks in large part to that iconic can-do attitude, it found creative solutions to changing health precautions – and now the streets are buzzing once again.
6. Montreal, Canada
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| Montreal |
When the pandemic hit last year, Montrealers rallied. This city is famous for its community spirit, and up against the biggest crisis in a generation, we showed enough of it to make any city proud. As our famous music and politics make abundantly clear, conformity has never been in fashion here, and it’s those differences that bring us together: 73 percent of locals would describe Montreal as ‘diverse’, and even more say it’s easy to ‘express who you are’.
Our city may be in a perpetual state of construction, with seemingly endless protests, frigid winters and boiling summers too – but at least we’ve got each other.
7. Prague, Czech Republic
Lockdowns hit Prague suddenly and severely – but thankfully, the city’s eye-popping beauty remains unscathed. In this year’s Index, in fact, some 82 percent of Prague locals still sung the praises of the city’s looks. The Golden City’s gradual reopening has presented amazing opportunities to simple pleasures unthinkable in pre-pandemic Prague: having Charles Bridge almost to yourself, the audible chirrup of birds in Old Town Square, a contemplative morning coffee down a deserted sidestreet. Add in the fact that the Czech capital is incredibly walkable – with 89 percent of us saying it’s easy to get around without a car – and you’ve got hands down one of the world’s most liveable cities.
8. Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel Avivians are a hardy bunch. When Covid hit tourism, this high-tech hub hit the Reset button. The pandemic caused the ‘city that never stops’ to take a well-needed pause. Spaces like Dizengoff Square and Park HaMesila played host to picnics, gigs, screenings and talks. After the lockdowns, Israel led the vaccination race and before long locals were back sipping cappuccinos in cafes and doing yoga on the beach. In our poll, 81 percent of Tel Avivians said their city was ‘fun’ and 84 percent said they can ‘express themselves’. Indeed, TLV is home to the region’s biggest Pride Parade, the widest choice of vegan options, and its nightlife always offers a real alternative.
9. Porto, Portugal
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| Porto City |
Some 73 percent of Porto residents said their city was great for ‘culture’ – and even in the midst of a pandemic, you’d struggle to disagree. Throughout the past year, Porto’s legendary graffiti artists have been busier than ever, splashing the streets with some much-needed colour, while our many, many galleries have been surprisingly active too.
The city has also begun to give back public space to citizens, with ample pedestrianisation, more cycling infrastructure, expanded terraces and new community gardens. We attended concerts in parks, bought books under the shade of trees, supported local businesses and discovered new ones. Many people started baking bread, cakes and cookies at home, and now many of them have gone pro.
10. Tokyo, Japan
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| Tokyo |
The face mask, that quintessential pandemic-era staple, was already a common accessory among Tokyoites way before Covid hit, which is perhaps why life here never really slowed over the past year. An overwhelming 82 percent of survey respondents said Tokyo was great for ‘discovering new things’ – look around and you’ll notice loads of new venues and attractions have cropped up across the city over the past 18 months.
Some 73 percent of those polled also said the city is great for ‘getting around without a car’. The city’s super-efficient public transport system ensures everyone can easily enjoy all that the city has to offer.
11. Los Angeles, America
L.A.’s best assets have always been outdoors, but the past year and a half spurred new appreciation for all-season farmers’ markets, beach weather in the winter and a bit of solace on a canyon trail.
Angelenos are always inventive (hence why it voted the second-most ‘creative’ city in the world) – and that was especially the case as entire city blocks turned into art installations, holiday cheer went to the drive-through, mutual aid networks sprouted up on sidewalks and seemingly every parking lot became a drive-in.
Now if we could just use some of that creativity to rein in the housing crisis (87 percent described L.A. as ‘expensive’; the rest must’ve just sold their two-bedroom bungalow for a cool million).
12. Chicago, America
Chicago came in as the third-most resilient city in the world, which isn’t that surprising when you consider the city’s storied history of survival (starting with a gigantic fire back in 1871).
Faced with the difficulties of the past year, Chicagoans came together to share food, support out-of-work musicians and protest injustice – it’s why we also got high marks for ‘community spirit’ and being ‘friendly’ (though maybe you can just chalk that up to Midwestern charm). Now – finally – we’re celebrating together with weekly parties in the streets and the return of summer festivals.
13. London, England
A lot of Londoners took their city’s best qualities for granted before the pandemic. Not a surprise, that. We do like to moan. It took for the end of a long, merciless lockdown for Londoners to fall back in love with their food and drink scene, but the main thing this city has going for it (and this is backed up by 2021’s Index stats) is diversity. In fact, a whopping 88 percent of locals described the city as ‘diverse’. Nowhere in the world is as mixed. Nowhere is as inclusive. Once again, you can do you. With a pint in your hand, of course.
14. Barcelona, Spain
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| Barcelona |
Sure, 2021 may not have worked out quite how the people of Barcelona imagined (or 2020 for that matter), but the ingenuity and solidarity they’ve shown should definitely be cause for optimism. The city rallied behind the motto #CulturaSegura (‘Culture is Safe’), with cultural organisers finding savvy ways to put on live music, exhibitions, theatre and film screenings pretty much throughout the pandemic.
No wonder, then, that 83 percent of locals rated the city highly for ‘culture’ – with some 85 percent giving it top marks for ‘food and drink’ too. Want to know one good thing that came out of Covid? Like in many cities, street parking spaces throughout the centre were given over to adjacent bars and restaurants; unlike in many cities, these will now be made permanent.
15. Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne gets locked down, but we get up again. As the city struggles through its sixth hard lockdown in 18 months, there is still a lot of love to be found in this fine Australian city. It’s clear Melbourne’s food and drink culture is the best in the country, with more than 94 percent of locals ranking the city highly for its bars and restaurants.
Even in the depths of lockdown, Melburnians can still get their fix of top-notch lasagne, incredible Indonesian staples or sticky-sweet desserts delivered to their doors – and it’s great to see the community supporting each other with such zeal.
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