A ranking using objective measures has put Cape Town above heavy hitters including Paris, Tokyo, London and New York.
Which do you think is the greatest city on Earth? The UK’s Telegraph newspaper went on a mission recently to find the answer. Starting with its own pick of 50 contenders for the top spot, it whittled this down using an annual reader survey plus input from a panel of travel writers.
Next it assigned each shortlisted city a score based on a range of factors, from the number of museums and galleries, Unesco Heritage Sites, Michelin restaurants and five-star hotels counted in each city, to air cleanliness, to how they measure on safety for members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Bonus points were awarded for cities with a beach, canal system or river; a symphony orchestra; and a sophisticated metro system.
Out of a possible 810 points, the highest score — and title of “greatest city on Earth” — went to Barcelona, Spain. The newspaper praised the city for its “relaxed pace, months of endless sunshine, unbeatable food and the best cultural and design clout of almost any city in the cold north”.
In second place was Sydney, Australia, which was called a “functional, stress-free city” with low urban density, plenty of green space, a low-emission ranking and dozens of five-star hotels.
And in third place, and highest-ranking city in Africa, was Cape Town. The newspaper says its “topography and geography alone make [it] stand out above the others” and that its beaches, copious sunshine hours and towering Table Mountain, the latter providing the highest view and the biggest green space out of any city in the list, bumped it into a podium position.
