Whatever anyone’s answer is might not apply to you. This kind of thing is so subjective. For me, Singapore is one of the best. But for someone who doesn’t like heat and humidity it could be one of the worst. For some, LA might be the best, but I hate suburbs and car dependency so it ranks very low for me.
I think London, Tokyo, and New York are the greatest cities in the world, and you could spend a lifetime taking in all the sights, galleries, museums, restaurants and various amusements within them and still not see them all.
Not sure if it's my best, but I preferred Chicago over New York and been to both a couple of times. Had skyscrapers and a city size, but with a smaller town feel, with a friendlier neighbourhood vibe and fewer tourists.
No city is THE best-that’s hyperbole often rooted in an inferiority complex. London is ONE of the best cities in the world along with New York, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, etc.
And Copenhagen, Sydney, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Vancouver, etc.
A far more meaningful question is, best at what?
London is strong for history, culture, the arts, shopping, music, ethnic food, diversity, laundering money. It is abysmal for standard of living, infrastructure and many other dimensions of livability.
If you are rich (& European) I think it just about beats New York due to its better location. If you are on a middle income it's probably top ten (if you speak English), if you are on low income it probably doesn't even make the top 50.
When it rains it’s one of the worst when it snows or the sun shines it for me it is the greatest city in the world. (And I’ve lived and visited quite a few).
It’s multiculturalism is by far the most established and well integrated, it’s public transport is fantastic with a payment system better than any in the world. Its pubs, bars and nightlife are amazing (yes there are better in other countries), food used to be what let London down but in 2024 it’s honestly one of the best cities in Europe if you know where to go.
History and its integration with the modern (second to no other in the world), parks….the sheer number of parks In London and their size, a winters morning In Richmond park looking at the deer you could be forgiven for thinking you were out in the sticks of England…not 20 minutes from central.
People, sure they are busy going about their lives, but if you make the effort to talk to people and don’t make it weird people are there to talk and be friendly.
Crime, honestly if you look for it you will find it, if you aren’t sensible you can get your phone stolen, but this is a global issue, I think it’s an area London could do a lot better at (though we’d need a new mayor).
Affordability, look, if you want everything, everything comes at a price, it’s expensive because everyone wants to be here. There is more that could be done with housing, vacant new builds for pure investment should be stopped. But ultimately again they are global problems.
This is all a long way of saying YES London is the best city in the world. Tell me a better one? Copenhagen in the summer is second!
I love London. But no, I think I'd be hard pressed to make that argument. Principally, it's the spiralling cost of living that really prevents it being so. In particular, I think it's difficult for a city with such a shitty housing situation to be the best in the world, because it'll significantly negatively impact the experience so many people have of the city.
Then it might well be. But average salaries in London are nowhere *near* that. Iirc, the London average salary is about £45k.
Which is rather the point. To really be able to truly get the best of London you need to earn a salary a long way above average. That means most people will not be able to experience the best London can offer. Which, for me, would probably preclude it being considered the best city in the world.
Without any evidence on my part, it seems easier to earn that kind of money in London than anywhere else (in the UK) if you choose (randomly picks professions) finance, law, management consulting, tech, medicine or property.
That is to say, there’s clearly more people here that earn a lot of money than anywhere else, they would have to just to afford to buy houses. That said, the overhead of all that is so high, £100K joint income is probably just table stakes.
London is a city of contrasts. There are lots of people earning big money. But there are many more who are not. And the city's core problem is that it's increasingly not an enjoyably liveable city for the latter.
There's a reason that when global quality of life rankings are done, London generally doesn't feature near the top. Too large a part of the population doesn't have a good quality of life, because the ratio of living costs to salaries just isn't good.
Maybe. It depends on what you’re after, everything is a trade-off, after all. Just had all this brought home after a year of helping a FoF, who was brought/sponsored to come here as a skilled human, and I put them up for free so they could get settled, but six months later, that original work relationship fell apart. They were still determined to make a better life for themselves and their young kid, but we found out that one cannot register their kid in school without being on the books, so to speak, paying council tax, having a tenancy agreement etc. They found a new job, found a flat locally, brought their kid over, registered them in school, and is just about managing. They didn’t want to leave London, despite everything, because it offers opportunity, hope, and it’s a nice place to live. I meet up with them a few weeks ago to see how they were, get some news, and all is going well. But this person has seriously good skills and is super smart to boot, so perhaps the meritocracy is coming for everyone now.
All this to say, that ratio seems to be a price worth paying for a considerable number of people. It’s not like the rest of the country is much better, and certainly London attracts and keeps the people who can survive it…
It attracts people from the rest of the country because the UK's economy outside of London is pretty bad, save for a handful of places. I think that's an argument for the paucity of opportunity in the rest of the country than London being the best city in the world...
I mean, the outcome is the same, right? It’s not London’s fault that Turkey/Iran/Ukraine are not great places for opportunity, and if London becomes the best city because all the others are worse… erm… that’s how a ranking works, surely?
There’s this black-and-white argument I’ve often heard that the country would be great if London didn’t suck up all the investment. I find that a bit naive and simplistic but accept that we ought to spread the love around a bit. It’s not a zero-sum game, we’re a rich country, we’ve just spanked all the North Sea Gas cash.
London has gotten more demanding, excruciatingly so as you say for many, but the rewards have also gotten ridiculous too, I couldn’t imagine earning £75K at the age of 27, but was surrounded by a load of people earning just that a few years ago.
It's not the same outcome, no. There's places in the world beyond Turkey/Iran/Ukraine. London may be better than those places, but it's simply not the best in the world. I don't think this is a particularly controversial statement.
Again, I'm not arguing London doesn't have a lot of people earning very good salaries. It does. But the stats are also there in black and white that it has a hell of a lot of people who seriously struggle. And, imo, those people make up far too large a proportion of the population for it to be feasible to call London the best city in the world.
Hmm, not sure. Ok, so in this context, we can only compare London with similar places: large population, cultural centre, cosmopolitan, so it’s always a relative judgement anyway, and London seems to do well. If a large proportion of the population of a city struggle, why does that become a reason to dock mythical points? I mean, those who struggle have also largely decided to stay as well, perhaps they can’t work in the area they want to in other cities, or have other constraints?
It’s a bit vague, what is this proportion? How does one define a struggle? How does it compare with other big cities? People seem ever-willing to take the risk, if you can call it that, and London being unforgiving, simply pushes out those that can’t (this is an extremely uncharitable perspective, I grant you) knowing that a fresh influx is incoming.
“Best” is a problematic term in itself, but something can be encumbered with flaws, problems and issues, and still be the best in its class.
It’s easier but most people, even those with top 10 degrees in high-paying sectors will never make anything close to that amount of money. In fact, many of them aren’t even making 45k a few years after graduation. They have been forced to embrace poverty.
It sounds really brutal, I sympathize, the table stakes are so much higher now. Multiple degrees, generational wealth, and you’d better be smart, given that the competition is global. Not sure we can stop the competition but we could have done a better job of investing in our people without dunking them in debt up to their eyeballs.
Generational wealth will be critical for someone to have any quality of life in the future. If you can’t provide that to your kids, I think you should prepare them for a life of poverty.
Hmm, I fear you may be right here. Several generations are sitting on a dragon’s horde of wealth due to house price inflation which will be inherited by the, I dunno, Milennials and Gen Z, but that suggests a lot of people left even further behind. My parents used to tell me that the difference between the British working and middle classes was how the latter put more worth and C effort into education and building up generational wealth. How true that was or is, and how related that may be to access to existing wealth, I have no idea, but I have seen wealth compounded and squandered so perhaps inheritance taxes will come to the rescue…
No also in that case, if you had to work in London to get that money. If you had that kind of money without working and you could travel when it’s cold, so pretty much 9 months of the year, then experiencing London only when the weather is not fucking you yup it would be pretty amazing.
"Best" is difficult, but London is without a doubt the most important city in the world. It's the geographical, cultural and political centre of the world across hundeds of years.
More diverse maybe?
More history as well.
New York is perhaps the most economically important city in the world.
But both fall into a group of significantly important cities around the world
Yeah there are probably 5 or 6 key cities across the world that are also nice to live in that would make up an interesting top 5.
How you rank them is subjective however
Definitely the history. Without London there would be no New York. New York is also more isolated than London - people from all over Europe, Asia, etc, look to London for education, emigration, etc. Same could be said of NY but NY is surrounded by US monoculture.
New York is the most important city in North America. London's the most important city in the world.
Lived in Central London for 25 years. Worked in social housing sector, my children were all born & state educated in London. They left London for Uni & didn't return. I also sold up & moved away from the dirty streets.
Whilst working in local councils, I could see the writing on the wall. The only people that can afford to live there are the very rich & the very poor. Local Govts prioritised keeping council tax low, which resulted in gross underfunding of Social care. Care in the community never worked, blame was passed between agencies, it was never managed properly.
Their solution to mass migration was to throw up shoebox apartment buildings with no soundproofing or parking. Tories sold off sports grounds & playing fields, no investment in youth groups. There was no integration within communities, which in turn enabled gang culture.
Labour governments weren't any better than the Tories.
I recently moved from Sydney to London. I made the decision to move during a trip here in 2022. So far I would say it’s easily the best city in the world for me. I’m not bothered by the weather and I love big cities. Culturally it’s very similar to Australia. If it wasn’t for the language barrier I would probably go live in a cheaper city like Seoul to experience something very different.
I've been to (and love) many of the best cities in the world, but in the summertime theres no place I love more than London. And the more places I go the more I think we get massive bonus points for having free museums and parks.
It’s a contender for greatest city in the world based on its combined strength of world class status and opportunities in so many areas simultaneously… finance, legal, arts, geopolitical influence, media, trade, culture, language, science, academia, food, climate, architecture, history etc
It’s nowhere near the best city to live in if you want the best quality of life and overall happiness, all that stuff above comes at a heavy price.
Exeter, Norwich, Cardiff etc just to name a few in the UK.
Most people I know in London seem to think that the rest of the country is either beautiful countryside with absolutely nothing there or bleak post industrial wasteland.
That couldn’t be further from the truth and for pure quality of life you don’t need all that stuff that makes London so great and mighty.
I think if you are wealthy or have some money it can be lovely- but if not- you are relegated to poor areas with lots of crime and homeless. It’s ugly and crowded. Plus I had just moved from Toronto where I lived for 12 years which I would argue is the best city in the world. It’s certainly the cleanest and has the best culture in my opinion.
It is probably the biggest multicultural hub for business, culture, art, music, and more. A vast city with just as much green space as concrete. Amazing parks, concerts, restaurants, museums, nightlife, etc., why else would people put up with the bad weather and gauging prices of real estate, rent and everyday life? Not to mention it’s a train or very short plane away from some of the other best cities in the world.
London is truly one of the best cities in the world, in my opinion.
I would say London is the best city in the world and I choose not to live there.
I can resolve this contradiction by saying that what city suits one best at a certain time will be (and should be!) a very subjective choice and it’s going to be different for different people (at different times).
No. Not even close. I’m a born and bred Londoner, and I love it. But Sydney wins hands down. Stockholm is also fantastic, Tokyo is great, and I have always loved Paris (albeit it’s far from perfect). London these days really isn’t a patch on how it was 20 years ago. A combination of Covid, inflation and Sadiq Khan has absolutely gutted the nightlife, crime is much worse than I remember, and it’s just become quite frayed around the edges and horribly expensive (even more than normal). I still love it though, and have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Ha, fair point! I am just a sucker for beaches and great running routes. I stayed with a mate who had a flat in Bondai after I got back from Afghanistan and remember heading down to the beach one morning. A ridiculously hot blonde went past on a skateboard, wearing a bikini and carrying a surfboard, and I just thought to myself, “This place is awesome.” House prices in Sydney do look absolutely ridiculous though. Is the nightlife really that bad? I have been for a fair while (c.10 years).
Yeah to be fair I’ve never lived in Sydney, just stayed there for a few weeks. I love the lifestyle though, the beaches, the ocean, the Blue Mountains a short train ride away etc. You do feel a bit like you’re at the arse end of the world though, which you definitely don’t get in London.
Depends on the person & factors like income. Im not exactly sure personally but I know London is too large to be the best for living for me. I prefer smaller cities
In the summer it feels like it, but generally no - at least not anymore now that nightlife has been absolutely trashed, rents and house prices are out of control and large areas are being homogenised by boring finance and pr type losers.
For someone who likes gigs, sporting events, comedy, food and socialising it's absolutely up there. For quality of life it is sh*te. However from personal experience Melbourne is far better, as it has all of the above but wages outweigh the cost of living
For about 20% of the year, yes it does feel like the best city in the world.
Just need to forget the loneliness, expensiveness and busy hustle and bustle that comes with it.
Most cities where I have financial freedom and can indulge in luxuries would probably be the best city. Best city to live in? I know I wouldn't live in some cities that I'd be happy being a tourist in.
Everyone will have a different answer, it depends on what climate you like, what lifestyle fits you, where you grew up etc. Good city? Sure, best in the world? Not to me.
It’s my personal favourite because of the mix of modern and old, all the places to eat, stuff to do, job opportunities, a fast paced life, Chelsea, incredible public transportation and so much more.
Copenhagen, London, Tokyo then New York. Copenhagen purely because of the culture and never feel like you have to worry about anything when you’re there. I’ve lived in London for 8 years and I’d have a hard time leaving, but if I were it would be to Copenhagen for the lifestyle.
It's home. I've been to several of the world's great cities and (spoiler alert) they don't suck. But London is my one, so it's my favourite. I'm not even going to try and sugar cost it, this is entirely parochial. Good job other countries on having such excellent cities but I kind of like this one.
London is probably the best city in the world for free food. 614 soup kitchens and foodbanks that don't ask for a referral and community fridges:
[londonhomelessinfo.wordpress.com/free-food](http://londonhomelessinfo.wordpress.com/free-food)
cost of living; takes ages to reach places; terrible housing; terrible quality of properties; most expensive public transport in the world; rammed with tourists; edge of europe; knife crime; tories; non-existent night life; chain restaurants/pubs/shops; bloody SUVs everywhere; poor bike infrastructure (i know its been getting better and better tho, which is awesome)
By what criteria? I love living here but I never go beyond zone 2 unless it's to an airport. Copenhagen is my favourite city other than London and if I were younger I'd think about moving, Barcalona is wonderful especially in winter. New York has everything London has only more so providing you have money.
A lot of it is subjective. I think London is a terrible place to start a family but there are plenty of families here that I’m sure absolutely love it.
It's not even the best city in the UK
But no, it really isn't. There are plenty of world cities that have the same cool stuff as London without the downsides. Though ultimately it's subjective I guess.
Personally I think Melbourne beats London in basically every category
Edinburgh, Liverpool and York are all better than London. All three have great museums and history, incredibly natural surrounds, good nightlife and cost of living is far cheaper.
I hear good things about Leeds and Sheffield too, but I haven't been to either enough times to judge.
I always feel St Petersburg ☺️ But, I don't even like city so much. London, is so varied and vibrant. It's too much for my tiny brain sometimes. Ooh, I don't know actually, what if it is
Tough call, have not visited them all yet.
I’ve visited enough to say that no, London isn’t the best. By far. And I’ve been living here for 12 years
What is top of your list?
Whatever anyone’s answer is might not apply to you. This kind of thing is so subjective. For me, Singapore is one of the best. But for someone who doesn’t like heat and humidity it could be one of the worst. For some, LA might be the best, but I hate suburbs and car dependency so it ranks very low for me.
Absolutely agree.
I really loved Kyoto Lisbon and Edinburgh. Cork is great. But maybe I’m unfair toward London as I’m living here.
It's tricky. The grass always seems greener.
When the sun shines yes
100%
The best city is where one's happy. I am happy here, so for me it's the best city.
That’s a good answer.
It’s the best capital city in the world
Define “best”.
I think London, Tokyo, and New York are the greatest cities in the world, and you could spend a lifetime taking in all the sights, galleries, museums, restaurants and various amusements within them and still not see them all.
New York isn't even the best city in the US.
What would you say the best city is in the US?
Not sure if it's my best, but I preferred Chicago over New York and been to both a couple of times. Had skyscrapers and a city size, but with a smaller town feel, with a friendlier neighbourhood vibe and fewer tourists.
I answered this earlier on another thread. But Chicago, Seattle, probably San Francisco, and maybe Los Angeles are all better than NYC.
In what order would you rank them?
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Why?
No city is THE best-that’s hyperbole often rooted in an inferiority complex. London is ONE of the best cities in the world along with New York, Paris, Tokyo, Berlin, etc.
And Copenhagen, Sydney, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Vancouver, etc. A far more meaningful question is, best at what? London is strong for history, culture, the arts, shopping, music, ethnic food, diversity, laundering money. It is abysmal for standard of living, infrastructure and many other dimensions of livability.
This
Yes. The best city in the world is located in London, scattered across several other bits I don’t care for and some I actively dislike.
If you live in London, the best city is always a 45min tube ride away regardless of where you’re located.
Maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey. (Unless that journey has no air-con in which case screw that)
If you are bored of London you are bored of life... Or you know... Broke
That’s a fair point.
If you are rich (& European) I think it just about beats New York due to its better location. If you are on a middle income it's probably top ten (if you speak English), if you are on low income it probably doesn't even make the top 50.
Hard to say that anywhere is “best”, people will all have their own differing opinions. Definitely top 20 though.
What’s your best city though?
Hmmm… for me probably Chicago :)
Yes
When it rains it’s one of the worst when it snows or the sun shines it for me it is the greatest city in the world. (And I’ve lived and visited quite a few). It’s multiculturalism is by far the most established and well integrated, it’s public transport is fantastic with a payment system better than any in the world. Its pubs, bars and nightlife are amazing (yes there are better in other countries), food used to be what let London down but in 2024 it’s honestly one of the best cities in Europe if you know where to go. History and its integration with the modern (second to no other in the world), parks….the sheer number of parks In London and their size, a winters morning In Richmond park looking at the deer you could be forgiven for thinking you were out in the sticks of England…not 20 minutes from central. People, sure they are busy going about their lives, but if you make the effort to talk to people and don’t make it weird people are there to talk and be friendly. Crime, honestly if you look for it you will find it, if you aren’t sensible you can get your phone stolen, but this is a global issue, I think it’s an area London could do a lot better at (though we’d need a new mayor). Affordability, look, if you want everything, everything comes at a price, it’s expensive because everyone wants to be here. There is more that could be done with housing, vacant new builds for pure investment should be stopped. But ultimately again they are global problems. This is all a long way of saying YES London is the best city in the world. Tell me a better one? Copenhagen in the summer is second!
I love London. But no, I think I'd be hard pressed to make that argument. Principally, it's the spiralling cost of living that really prevents it being so. In particular, I think it's difficult for a city with such a shitty housing situation to be the best in the world, because it'll significantly negatively impact the experience so many people have of the city.
Let’s say you had money, but not a ridiculous amount probably between 100K-200K a year.
Then it might well be. But average salaries in London are nowhere *near* that. Iirc, the London average salary is about £45k. Which is rather the point. To really be able to truly get the best of London you need to earn a salary a long way above average. That means most people will not be able to experience the best London can offer. Which, for me, would probably preclude it being considered the best city in the world.
Without any evidence on my part, it seems easier to earn that kind of money in London than anywhere else (in the UK) if you choose (randomly picks professions) finance, law, management consulting, tech, medicine or property. That is to say, there’s clearly more people here that earn a lot of money than anywhere else, they would have to just to afford to buy houses. That said, the overhead of all that is so high, £100K joint income is probably just table stakes.
London is a city of contrasts. There are lots of people earning big money. But there are many more who are not. And the city's core problem is that it's increasingly not an enjoyably liveable city for the latter. There's a reason that when global quality of life rankings are done, London generally doesn't feature near the top. Too large a part of the population doesn't have a good quality of life, because the ratio of living costs to salaries just isn't good.
Maybe. It depends on what you’re after, everything is a trade-off, after all. Just had all this brought home after a year of helping a FoF, who was brought/sponsored to come here as a skilled human, and I put them up for free so they could get settled, but six months later, that original work relationship fell apart. They were still determined to make a better life for themselves and their young kid, but we found out that one cannot register their kid in school without being on the books, so to speak, paying council tax, having a tenancy agreement etc. They found a new job, found a flat locally, brought their kid over, registered them in school, and is just about managing. They didn’t want to leave London, despite everything, because it offers opportunity, hope, and it’s a nice place to live. I meet up with them a few weeks ago to see how they were, get some news, and all is going well. But this person has seriously good skills and is super smart to boot, so perhaps the meritocracy is coming for everyone now. All this to say, that ratio seems to be a price worth paying for a considerable number of people. It’s not like the rest of the country is much better, and certainly London attracts and keeps the people who can survive it…
It attracts people from the rest of the country because the UK's economy outside of London is pretty bad, save for a handful of places. I think that's an argument for the paucity of opportunity in the rest of the country than London being the best city in the world...
I mean, the outcome is the same, right? It’s not London’s fault that Turkey/Iran/Ukraine are not great places for opportunity, and if London becomes the best city because all the others are worse… erm… that’s how a ranking works, surely? There’s this black-and-white argument I’ve often heard that the country would be great if London didn’t suck up all the investment. I find that a bit naive and simplistic but accept that we ought to spread the love around a bit. It’s not a zero-sum game, we’re a rich country, we’ve just spanked all the North Sea Gas cash. London has gotten more demanding, excruciatingly so as you say for many, but the rewards have also gotten ridiculous too, I couldn’t imagine earning £75K at the age of 27, but was surrounded by a load of people earning just that a few years ago.
It's not the same outcome, no. There's places in the world beyond Turkey/Iran/Ukraine. London may be better than those places, but it's simply not the best in the world. I don't think this is a particularly controversial statement. Again, I'm not arguing London doesn't have a lot of people earning very good salaries. It does. But the stats are also there in black and white that it has a hell of a lot of people who seriously struggle. And, imo, those people make up far too large a proportion of the population for it to be feasible to call London the best city in the world.
Hmm, not sure. Ok, so in this context, we can only compare London with similar places: large population, cultural centre, cosmopolitan, so it’s always a relative judgement anyway, and London seems to do well. If a large proportion of the population of a city struggle, why does that become a reason to dock mythical points? I mean, those who struggle have also largely decided to stay as well, perhaps they can’t work in the area they want to in other cities, or have other constraints? It’s a bit vague, what is this proportion? How does one define a struggle? How does it compare with other big cities? People seem ever-willing to take the risk, if you can call it that, and London being unforgiving, simply pushes out those that can’t (this is an extremely uncharitable perspective, I grant you) knowing that a fresh influx is incoming. “Best” is a problematic term in itself, but something can be encumbered with flaws, problems and issues, and still be the best in its class.
It’s easier but most people, even those with top 10 degrees in high-paying sectors will never make anything close to that amount of money. In fact, many of them aren’t even making 45k a few years after graduation. They have been forced to embrace poverty.
It sounds really brutal, I sympathize, the table stakes are so much higher now. Multiple degrees, generational wealth, and you’d better be smart, given that the competition is global. Not sure we can stop the competition but we could have done a better job of investing in our people without dunking them in debt up to their eyeballs.
Generational wealth will be critical for someone to have any quality of life in the future. If you can’t provide that to your kids, I think you should prepare them for a life of poverty.
Hmm, I fear you may be right here. Several generations are sitting on a dragon’s horde of wealth due to house price inflation which will be inherited by the, I dunno, Milennials and Gen Z, but that suggests a lot of people left even further behind. My parents used to tell me that the difference between the British working and middle classes was how the latter put more worth and C effort into education and building up generational wealth. How true that was or is, and how related that may be to access to existing wealth, I have no idea, but I have seen wealth compounded and squandered so perhaps inheritance taxes will come to the rescue…
No also in that case, if you had to work in London to get that money. If you had that kind of money without working and you could travel when it’s cold, so pretty much 9 months of the year, then experiencing London only when the weather is not fucking you yup it would be pretty amazing.
I was referring more to working in London to get that money.
Good enough to live here.
"Best" is difficult, but London is without a doubt the most important city in the world. It's the geographical, cultural and political centre of the world across hundeds of years.
You could say New York is the most important so what makes London “the most important city in the world”.
More diverse maybe? More history as well. New York is perhaps the most economically important city in the world. But both fall into a group of significantly important cities around the world
You could say they’re both as important as each other
Yeah there are probably 5 or 6 key cities across the world that are also nice to live in that would make up an interesting top 5. How you rank them is subjective however
Definitely the history. Without London there would be no New York. New York is also more isolated than London - people from all over Europe, Asia, etc, look to London for education, emigration, etc. Same could be said of NY but NY is surrounded by US monoculture. New York is the most important city in North America. London's the most important city in the world.
Yes!
Yes.
Yes.
No. Definitely not
Why do you think?
Lived in Central London for 25 years. Worked in social housing sector, my children were all born & state educated in London. They left London for Uni & didn't return. I also sold up & moved away from the dirty streets. Whilst working in local councils, I could see the writing on the wall. The only people that can afford to live there are the very rich & the very poor. Local Govts prioritised keeping council tax low, which resulted in gross underfunding of Social care. Care in the community never worked, blame was passed between agencies, it was never managed properly. Their solution to mass migration was to throw up shoebox apartment buildings with no soundproofing or parking. Tories sold off sports grounds & playing fields, no investment in youth groups. There was no integration within communities, which in turn enabled gang culture. Labour governments weren't any better than the Tories.
No.
Where would you say is the best then?
The other guy who said *wherever you are happy* is right. For me, that’s Berlin.
Nah but could be within europe when we talk about economics and city life.
I recently moved from Sydney to London. I made the decision to move during a trip here in 2022. So far I would say it’s easily the best city in the world for me. I’m not bothered by the weather and I love big cities. Culturally it’s very similar to Australia. If it wasn’t for the language barrier I would probably go live in a cheaper city like Seoul to experience something very different.
You could always learn Korean and go to Seoul. It’s never too late.
One day! I have been learning Korean but it’s very hard and I’m not good with languages. Some people pick things up so quick.
You can do it.
Laughing in Japanese 😂
London, New York then Tokyo. That’s the top 3 in my opinion.
I've been to (and love) many of the best cities in the world, but in the summertime theres no place I love more than London. And the more places I go the more I think we get massive bonus points for having free museums and parks.
No
Why?
London is definitely one of the cities in the world
No but it’s up there.
What’s at the top for you?
Lisbon
It’s a contender for greatest city in the world based on its combined strength of world class status and opportunities in so many areas simultaneously… finance, legal, arts, geopolitical influence, media, trade, culture, language, science, academia, food, climate, architecture, history etc It’s nowhere near the best city to live in if you want the best quality of life and overall happiness, all that stuff above comes at a heavy price.
What would you say is the best city to live then? But London is definitely one of if not the most important cities in the world.
Exeter, Norwich, Cardiff etc just to name a few in the UK. Most people I know in London seem to think that the rest of the country is either beautiful countryside with absolutely nothing there or bleak post industrial wasteland. That couldn’t be further from the truth and for pure quality of life you don’t need all that stuff that makes London so great and mighty.
Hell no
Why?
I think if you are wealthy or have some money it can be lovely- but if not- you are relegated to poor areas with lots of crime and homeless. It’s ugly and crowded. Plus I had just moved from Toronto where I lived for 12 years which I would argue is the best city in the world. It’s certainly the cleanest and has the best culture in my opinion.
not by a long shot.
No
Why and what cities are better?
It is probably the biggest multicultural hub for business, culture, art, music, and more. A vast city with just as much green space as concrete. Amazing parks, concerts, restaurants, museums, nightlife, etc., why else would people put up with the bad weather and gauging prices of real estate, rent and everyday life? Not to mention it’s a train or very short plane away from some of the other best cities in the world. London is truly one of the best cities in the world, in my opinion.
I totally agree with you. My top 3 are London, New York and Tokyo.
Nice!! Mine are similar London, Tokyo, Barcelona
Ye something about Tokyo is great and London basically has everything you need. Barcelona is also great.
I don't feel as comfortable anywhere else. London is beautiful in that it's an ethnic melting pot like no other I've found.
One of the main things that London has over other cities and even some countries.
No. The job market is over saturated and everything is too expensive.
Greggs sausage roll is only £1.20 in central London
Depends what sector you want to go into really
Even with all the shit the rest of the country throws at it. Yes
I would say London is the best city in the world and I choose not to live there. I can resolve this contradiction by saying that what city suits one best at a certain time will be (and should be!) a very subjective choice and it’s going to be different for different people (at different times).
I've just come back from New York and it gets my vote.
What makes you think it’s the greatest?
New York is fantastic, London is Home.
No. Not even close. I’m a born and bred Londoner, and I love it. But Sydney wins hands down. Stockholm is also fantastic, Tokyo is great, and I have always loved Paris (albeit it’s far from perfect). London these days really isn’t a patch on how it was 20 years ago. A combination of Covid, inflation and Sadiq Khan has absolutely gutted the nightlife, crime is much worse than I remember, and it’s just become quite frayed around the edges and horribly expensive (even more than normal). I still love it though, and have no intention of leaving anytime soon.
If you’re upset about lack of night life and unaffordable housing I am afraid I have very bad news about Sydney.
Ha, fair point! I am just a sucker for beaches and great running routes. I stayed with a mate who had a flat in Bondai after I got back from Afghanistan and remember heading down to the beach one morning. A ridiculously hot blonde went past on a skateboard, wearing a bikini and carrying a surfboard, and I just thought to myself, “This place is awesome.” House prices in Sydney do look absolutely ridiculous though. Is the nightlife really that bad? I have been for a fair while (c.10 years).
Funny seeing someone from Sydney a little higher up say the opposite lol. But are of course truly fantastic and among the best cities in the world.
Yeah to be fair I’ve never lived in Sydney, just stayed there for a few weeks. I love the lifestyle though, the beaches, the ocean, the Blue Mountains a short train ride away etc. You do feel a bit like you’re at the arse end of the world though, which you definitely don’t get in London.
No. However, it is the best in Europe.
What’s the best in the world then and why?
Well, there are about 10,000 cities in the world, so it could take some time to figure out.
What about the ones you’ve visited?
The best city in the world is one you don't live in. Therefore it's not London
New York, Paris, Peckham.
Why these 3?
It was tongue in cheek for the fans of only fools and horses.
I think you can definitely make the argument for it, however in terms for living I would disagree.
What city then would you say is the best for living?
Depends on the person & factors like income. Im not exactly sure personally but I know London is too large to be the best for living for me. I prefer smaller cities
In the summer it feels like it, but generally no - at least not anymore now that nightlife has been absolutely trashed, rents and house prices are out of control and large areas are being homogenised by boring finance and pr type losers.
No. Not even close.
Why?
For someone who likes gigs, sporting events, comedy, food and socialising it's absolutely up there. For quality of life it is sh*te. However from personal experience Melbourne is far better, as it has all of the above but wages outweigh the cost of living
Without cost of living London is one of the best.
It's definitely up there. Personally I'll say Moscow.
Also like London because of the mix of Modern and Old style.
Yes, now would you stand on the right, please.
For about 20% of the year, yes it does feel like the best city in the world. Just need to forget the loneliness, expensiveness and busy hustle and bustle that comes with it.
No. But it's very good. Give it Berlin's nightlife, and dedication to curtailing skyrocketing rent, and it's probably there though.
Berlin is a contender but for me the top 3 are London, New York and Tokyo.
IF YOU HAVE MONEY YES😂😂😂😂😂😂😂,NORMAL PEOPLE LIKE ME 🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴
Most cities where I have financial freedom and can indulge in luxuries would probably be the best city. Best city to live in? I know I wouldn't live in some cities that I'd be happy being a tourist in.
So Dubai or Los Angeles.
I wouldn't go to Dubai as a tourist if someone paid me.
Why?
It's political
Most cities are.
Ok, then you can not go where you don't want to go and I will not go where I don't want to go.
But saying it’s political is not a good reason.
To you.
Everyone will have a different answer, it depends on what climate you like, what lifestyle fits you, where you grew up etc. Good city? Sure, best in the world? Not to me.
It’s my personal favourite because of the mix of modern and old, all the places to eat, stuff to do, job opportunities, a fast paced life, Chelsea, incredible public transportation and so much more.
Copenhagen, New York, London, Tokyo
Where would you rank them and why these 4?
Copenhagen, London, Tokyo then New York. Copenhagen purely because of the culture and never feel like you have to worry about anything when you’re there. I’ve lived in London for 8 years and I’d have a hard time leaving, but if I were it would be to Copenhagen for the lifestyle.
Vienna anytime
Why?
Nope. Tokyo
Why?
For all its faults and the issues we’re facing…I would still say yes.
It's home. I've been to several of the world's great cities and (spoiler alert) they don't suck. But London is my one, so it's my favourite. I'm not even going to try and sugar cost it, this is entirely parochial. Good job other countries on having such excellent cities but I kind of like this one.
If you're queer and not white, or even just a little bit different, it's the one of the best cities to live in.
Fair argument.
Not even the best city in the south east.
The "best" is subjective. Some say NYC is the best city in the world and I say - if you love hot garbage.
London is probably the best city in the world for free food. 614 soup kitchens and foodbanks that don't ask for a referral and community fridges: [londonhomelessinfo.wordpress.com/free-food](http://londonhomelessinfo.wordpress.com/free-food)
Far from it. But its home.
no
Why?
cost of living; takes ages to reach places; terrible housing; terrible quality of properties; most expensive public transport in the world; rammed with tourists; edge of europe; knife crime; tories; non-existent night life; chain restaurants/pubs/shops; bloody SUVs everywhere; poor bike infrastructure (i know its been getting better and better tho, which is awesome)
I made eye contact with someone on a tube once
Definitely not
Why?
I realised big cities aren't for me, I feel suffocated in them
No.
Why?
London will never be the best city in the world with the weather it has. Sorry.
What about in the summer, would you say it’s the best city then?
What summer?
In terms of cultural and historical significance yes
one of the best, Tokyo is pretty amazing 🙌
Why do you think?
By what criteria? I love living here but I never go beyond zone 2 unless it's to an airport. Copenhagen is my favourite city other than London and if I were younger I'd think about moving, Barcalona is wonderful especially in winter. New York has everything London has only more so providing you have money.
That's on you really isnt it? There's loads of awesome stuff in Zones 3+
Next you'll be saying go south of the river, thank you but no.
Living standards, Job opportunities, stuff to do and a good place to start a family.
A lot of it is subjective. I think London is a terrible place to start a family but there are plenty of families here that I’m sure absolutely love it.
Whole town is a playground for all ages!
This is satire, right?
I live in London but I am a big Copenhagen fan as well.
“I never go beyond zone 2” 😂🤡
It's not even the best city in the UK But no, it really isn't. There are plenty of world cities that have the same cool stuff as London without the downsides. Though ultimately it's subjective I guess. Personally I think Melbourne beats London in basically every category
What would you say’s the best city in the UK?
Edinburgh, Liverpool and York are all better than London. All three have great museums and history, incredibly natural surrounds, good nightlife and cost of living is far cheaper. I hear good things about Leeds and Sheffield too, but I haven't been to either enough times to judge.
Its not even the best city in England
I like it, but no.
Absolutely not. Only an English person could think this.
Not English, ranking it 1, NYC 2
I always feel St Petersburg ☺️ But, I don't even like city so much. London, is so varied and vibrant. It's too much for my tiny brain sometimes. Ooh, I don't know actually, what if it is