- The 40 Greatest Cities in the World in 2022 – Part Four
- The 40 Greatest Cities in the World in 2022 – Part Three
- The 40 Greatest Cities in the World in 2022 – Part Two
The Coronavirus pandemic seemed to try to invalidate the purpose of living in a city. Much of the fun, culture and social life characterizing urban living during lockdowns was off the table. It was easy to feel confined, mainly if you lived in a megacity when you could only do one thing: hang out in your apartment.
But you’d be mistaken. Our cities have adapted. Communities came together like never before. We fought to ensure the survival of our businesses. And against all odds, we managed to have a good time. Many of us have now resurfaced from shutdowns and are taking slow steps toward semi-normalcy.
Many international cities went above and beyond last year. This article will tell you about the 47 best cities in the world in 2021. These cities are chosen in terms of food and culture, community projects, green space, and sustainability.
For the sake of fluency and readability of our article, we have divided this list into four separate lists in no particular order, so don’t get upset if you cannot see your favorite city here.
Manchester
Manchester is the most populous city borough in the English counties of North West England, and Greater Manchester is an adaptable city. Manchester is known as a city of contrasts. It has some of the most underprivileged and wealthy neighborhoods in the country. Manchester is the fourth most deprived local council in England.
Overall, it has thrived over the last year, with communities here truly uniting together in the face of adversity. Mancunians are proud people, so it’s no surprise that this city was described as ‘creative’ last year. Then again, this is the city that gave us Factory Records, the Fall, and the Smiths, and in 2021. In addition, events like Manchester International Festival (MIF) and Grayson’s Art Club have shown that Manchester has a lot to offer when it comes to big, splashy cultural events. On a smaller scale, small businesses such as Result CIC provided free mental health support to essential workers, while the Eagle and Child pub provided 4,500 meals to vulnerable locals.
In general, Manchester has a great vibe. This city is known for its reputation for knowing how to throw parties, so it’s not a surprise to anyone that it was voted best for ‘nightlife,’ ‘creativity,’ ‘community spirit,’ ‘friendliness,’ and ‘getting to know your neighbors.’
New York
New York State has a long history in the U.S. It’s wild and free. It’s well-known. But, more importantly, it can be whatever you want it to be. You can ask any New Yorker will tell you that our calendars are always full. This is especially true in the spring and summer when major celebrations and special events such as the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival and the Taste of Buffalo.
If there’s one thing that New Yorkers are known for, it’s their brash adaptability. That’s why it’s not a surprising fact that New York City received high marks for just that quality last year, coming in as the ‘most resilient’ of all cities in North America. New York has managed to survive and thrive over the past year, thanks to the ongoing success of its Open Restaurants initiative (which changed sidewalks into great community centers) and its new Key to NYC program (which encourages vaccine uptake). It discovered innovative solutions to changing health precautions, largely thanks to that instantly recognizable can-do attitude – and now the streets are bustling once more.
Being an incredibly exciting place to live, New York City was elected the most ‘exciting’ place in the world, and it came in second for ‘discovering new things.’
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, a young, modern megacity with a diverse community, was founded in 1909 in Israel. Artists, musicians, and young professionals tend to migrate to Tel Aviv’s scenic places, which include clubs, bars, a thriving arts community, gay life, and beaches. Tel Aviv has earned the city the nickname “The White City” because of its UNESCO-listed Bauhaus architecture.
Tel Aviv residents are a tough bunch. So when Covid entered the tourist industry, this high-tech center pressed the Reset button. The pandemic forced the ‘city that never stops’ to take a much-needed break. Picnics, concerts, screenings, and talks were held in locations such as Dizengoff Square and Park HaMesila. Following the shutdowns, Israel ended up leading the vaccination race, and residents were soon back drinking cappuccinos in coffee shops and doing yoga on the shoreline. About 81 percent of Tel Avivians said their city was “fun and exciting,” and 84 percent said they could “express themselves.” In fact, TLV has the biggest Pride Parade in the region, the most vegan options, and an exciting nightlife scene.
For the second time in a row, Tel Aviv was declared the world’s ‘funnest,’ as well as the most likely to be characterized as ‘good for people like me.’ Tel Aviv came in second place in the ‘food and beverage’ category, chasing only Shanghai.
Tokyo
Tokyo is an illustration of an urban heat island. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government declared the yearly average temperature had risen by about 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in the last century. Tokyo has been referred to as a “convincing instance of the relationship between urban growth and climate” in Japan. Tokyo is regularly used as the environment for many Japanese films, live tv shows, animated series, webcomics, light novels, video games, and comic books as the country’s largest population center and the location of the nation’s most prominent broadcasters and studios.
The face mask, the global epidemic accessory, already was a familiar accessory among Tokyoites long before Coronavirus arrived. This fact explains why living in Tokyo hasn’t really slowed down in the past year. Many believed that Tokyo was fantastic for ‘discovering new things’. Take a look around the city, and you’ll notice plenty of new venues and tourist attractions have sprouted up all over the city in the last 18 months. In addition, the city is excellent for “getting around with no vehicle.” The city’s incredibly efficient public transportation system makes sure that everyone can comfortably experience everything the city has to offer.
Tokyo made headlines with its designer public restrooms. Over the last year, modern restrooms designed by top architects have started appearing all over the city. Some resemble art installations (such as starchitect Kengo Kuma’s wooden design), but many are so high-tech that they can be controlled by voice commands.
Chicago
Chicago is a global financial, cultural, commercial, industrial, educational, technological, telecommunications, and transportation hub. It is the birthplace of the first systematic futures contracts, authorized by the Chicago Board of Trade, which is now part of the world’s biggest derivatives market, accounting for 20% of all volume in goods and services and financial futures by itself.
Chicago was named the third-most adaptable place in the world, which isn’t strange considering the city’s long history of survival. Confronted with the previous year’s problems, Chicagoans banded together to share food, support out-of-work performers, and rally injustice. This is the reason which is why the city also received top ratings for ‘community spirit’ and ‘friendliness.’ Chicago residents eventually celebrate together, with weekly street parties and the come back of summer festivals.
Chicago has a community-supported, Black, and trans-led LGBTQ+ center that helps, feeds, and houses some of the city’s most disadvantaged residents. In addition, because of its attractive and popular nature, Chicago was elected the world’s second-funniest and second-most-beautiful city.
Melbourne
Many of Australia’s most well-known historic sites can be found in Melbourne, including the Melbourne Cricket Stadium, the National Gallery of Victoria, and the World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Construction. Melbourne is known for its cultural heritage, having given birth to Australian rules football, Australian abstract expressionism, and Australian movie theatre, and has recently been designated as a UNESCO City of Literature as well as a global center for street art, live music, and theater. The city organizes major annual major tournaments such as the Australian Grand Prix and the Australian Open. For most of the 2010s, Melbourne was ranked among the top as the world’s most liveable city.
Melbourne was shut down, but they are able to re-enter. Despite the fact that Melbourne is in its sixth hard shutdown in 18 months, there is still a lot of affection in this great Australian city. It’s clear that Melbourne has the best food, snacks, and drinking culture in the country, with more than 94 percent of locals praising the city’s bars, pubs, and restaurants. Melbourne residents can still get their hands on top-notch lasagne, extraordinary Indonesian staples, or sticky-sweet desserts provided to their doors even in the midst of a quarantine. It’s also heartening to see the community rallying behind one another.
Melbourne has a wide range of amazing community-minded organizations, such as Sikh Volunteers Australia, distributing food and other necessities to their neighbors.
Madrid
Madrid, the capital of Spain, has one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas, the second largest GDP in the European Union, and significant impacts in politics, education, entertainment, the environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts.
As well as these organizations, the Institute is the place where major Spanish language regulatory and promotion bodies are based, such as the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, the Royal Spanish Academy, the Instituto Cervantes and the Foundation for Emerging Spanish.
What would Madrid be like if it didn’t have its bars and restaurants? What would the city be like without museums and theaters? These may seem like rhetorical questions, but it is accurately these things that have reminded Madrid residents of why they live in the city. Despite the challenges and constraints, Madrid has stayed faithful to its soul and is now starting to reclaim the cultural riches that have made it one of the greatest places in the world to travel and live in. Local residents said that this city is ‘easy’ to make friends in.
Madrid is the city with the most culture. Last year, the city was ranked second in the world for its cultural offerings, coming shy only of Paris.
Boston
Boston is among the longest-living cities in the United States, founded in 1630 on the Shawmut Peninsula by Puritan occupiers from the English town with the same name. It was the site of many pivotal American Revolutionary War events, including
- Boston Massacre
- Boston Tea Party
- Battle of Bunker Hill
- The siege of Boston
Boston is a vibrant scientific research site. Its many colleges and universities in the Boston area make it a major player in higher education, such as law, medicine, engineering, and business, and the city is regarded as a global leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, with nearly 5,000 startups. Boston’s economic base also includes professional and business services, biotechnology, information technology, and government activities.
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that Boston can be absolutely charismatic. For example, prior to 2020, Boston’s restaurants seldom had any outdoor seating and have started growing improvised patios to meet all needs. In the meantime, Boston residents developed a great admiration for the parks that have provided a safe haven for everyone to stretch their legs and gain back some level of normalcy. In fact, Boston residents have grown to love these casual strolls so much that they said Boston was a great place for a “walk in a green space.”
Boston has beautiful public parks, such as the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the Emerald Necklace, that link many of the city’s neighborhoods and provide a peaceful escape for residents.
Dubai
On the Persian Gulf coast in the eastern part of the Arab Peninsula, Dubai aims to make the Emirate the business capital of Western Asia. It is also a significant international passenger and cargo transportation hub. Oil wealth aided the city’s advancement, which was already a large commercial hub. Ever since the early twentieth century, Dubai has been an international trade and investment hub, and its economy is based on total revenue from trade, tourism, aviation, real estate, and financial services. In 2018, oil production made a significant contribution of less than 1% of the Emirate’s GDP. According to government estimates, Dubai’s population will be around 3,456,058 by 2022.
Dubai, home to the tallest skyscrapers, largest shopping malls, and, soon, the world’s largest observation wheel, and Time Out Market Dubai, which managed to open in April last year. So it’s not a surprise to anyone that 66 percent of Dubia citizens described the city as ‘ambitious’ in this year’s Ranking. So what happens when people of a city that absolutely adores going out are forced to stay in? Dubai citizens have adapted in a stylish manner. Due to strict social distancing, mask-wearing mandates, and a well-established vaccination program, fine-dining restaurants shifted to home delivery. Many suspect the ever-changing skyline may be part of Dubai’s ambition, as two-thirds of locals said it was ambitious.
Budapest
Budapest is a megacity with a significant presence in commercial activity, finance, media, art, fashion, research, innovative technology, educational activities, and entertainment. In 2014, Budapest’s financial center was listed as Europe’s second fastest-developing economic system. In addition, Budapest is home to the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the European Police College, and the China Investment Promotion Agency’s first foreign office.
It’s not just the incredible architecture that has prompted 72 percent of locals to define Budapest as ‘gorgeous.’ As Covid-19 forced the closure of Budapest’s District bars, the city’s social life transitioned away from downtown toward greener neighborhoods, with hiking trips through the Buda Hills, drinks on riverside patios, and park picnics becoming quite more popular. Even in the heart of the city, the city continued to thrive outdoors, as bars, restaurants, and café patios were the first spots they could legally socialize again. In addition, there are now projects to invest more in open-air hangouts, such as pedestrianizing the Danube banks by Parliament, and they support them wholeheartedly.
The hills of Budapest offer beautiful hiking locations, along with upcoming areas along the Danube River filled with parks, bars, and even beaches.
Conclusion
Several megacities around the world kept thriving in many different ways despite the pandemic. In this article, we talk about 10 of those cities. You can learn about more cities like those in the second part of the article.