New report reveals the best cities in the world for 2021

The atmosphere and vibrancy of cities across the world has suffered because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, forcing many businesses to close during lockdowns, but an annual report that ranks the best cities proves that there’s still much to love about the metropolis.

The report, issued by Resonance Consultancy which advises on real estate, tourism and economic development, scored 100 cities around the world that have populations higher than one million residents using 25 ranking factors groups into six categories. The factors include diversity, weather, the number of parks and tourist attractions, and the number of social media hashtags and check-ins. For the first time this year in the 2021 ranking, the cities were also ranked on new criteria such as unemployment, the rate of COVID-19 infections (as of July) and income disparity.

So how did your city stack up?

1. London, United Kingdom

For the sixth year running, London took the top slot. Looming question marks linger around Brexit, set to take full effect from January, but the report highly ranks the city’s parks and outdoor experiences, stating, ‘today, there’s no better urban experience anywhere, no matter the global forces swirling above the ancient streets.’

NEW YORK CITY- MARCH 26, 2018 : Theater District Broadway one of the main Manhattan Landmarks — NYC takes second place ©TRAVEL by VISION/Alamy Stock Photo

2. New York City, United States

Although the city that never sleeps is a bit quieter lately, New York City ranks second on the list. The report says that NYC is one of the best shopping cities in the world, with the new ‘mall of the future’ at Hudson Yards. Although New York was the first epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, the report remains optimistic on the city’s next steps: ‘however the world emerges, evolves or pivots out of our collective force majeure, it will happen here first.’

The best cities rounding out the top 20 in the report are: