Glasgow earns a place on the 100 ‘Best Cities’ list with Edinburgh missing out on a spot

Glasgow has managed to nab a spot on the 100 ‘Best Cities’ in the world list with just 2 other UK cities included in the rankings.

Glasgow ranks 96 out of 100 on the Best Cities list.

The ‘Best Cities’ list, created by Resonance Consultancy, has placed Scotland’s biggest city 96 in the overall rankings, with London taking the top spot, New York in second place and Paris coming in third.

Apart from Glasgow and London, Manchester was the only other UK city to be ranked, coming a respectable 94th place. Dublin was also seen on the list, taking the 33rd spot.

Scotland’s Capital, Edinburgh, with its historic architecture and its reputation as Scotland’s tourist hotspot, did not make the cut whilst Glasgow, built on its industrious history, did.

Describing ‘Our Dear Green Place’, Resonance Consultancy wrote: “Music and a pursuit of equality keep Glasgow real, even as its reputation soars.”

The Best Cities list is calculated by researchers working out how every single city around the world scores on six different metrics.

These metrics consist of place (the perceived quality of a city’s natural and built environment), programming (culture and nightlife), product (a city’s key institutions, attractions and infrastructure), people (the immigration rate and diversity of a city), prosperity (employment and corporate head offices), and promotion (the quantity of stories, references and recommendations shared online about a city).

Glasgow scored particularly well on programming (67%) and prosperity (57%) meaning that it was considered culturally vibrant and prosperous in terms of employment rates.

A spokesperson from Resonance Consultancy said: “Known as a working-class city with working-class values, Glasgow has made the Top 100 on the strength of those characteristics. Its high Income Equality (ranking #47) and low Unemployment (ranking #52) highlight its success in bringing everyone along for the ride as its reputation grows. In our Nightlife subcategory (#41), the city roars to prominence at gritty venues like the Sub Club, where live shows dominate.

"Glasgow was designated the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music in 2008, but the COVID-19 pandemic has presented an existential threat to many of its most popular venues. The government is allowing drive-in outdoor concerts, but that’s small comfort to the club owners who won’t be allowed to welcome their patrons back for a long time to come.”

You can access the full Big Cities list online here.

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