Calgary has been ranked among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to Resonance Consultancy’s World Best Cities 2021 report.
The tourism, real estate, and economic development advisor, based out of Vancouver and New York, releases the ranking annually. This year, Calgary placed 47th — one spot higher than last year.
Calgary came just after Copenhagen and Tel Aviv, and ranked right above Orlando and Atlanta. It’s the fourth-highest Canadian city on the list, following Toronto (13th), Vancouver (34th), and Montreal (41st).
The report ranks the relative quality of the world’s “principal cities” — the largest city in each metropolitan statistical area — with populations of one million or more, based on categories ranging from the physical place to prosperity to people.
“The World’s Best Cities rankings are composed of experiential factors that people consider most important in choosing a city to live and visit, as well as empirical factors that business decision-makers consider important for business or investment,” says Resonance Consultancy President and CEO Chris Fair in a release.
The report analyzes cities based on the following categories:
Place – Focuses on the layers of a location’s physical experience. Think weather, safety, neighbourhoods and landmarks, and the great outdoors.
People — Focuses on diversity in the city and notes that human capital is often a city’s most valuable resource.
Product – Described as the ranking of a city’s “hardware,” looks at airport connectivity, attractions, museums, university rankings, and the like.
Prosperity – Focuses on number of Global 500 corporate headquarters and GDP — Gross Domestic Product — per capita.
Programming – Measuring “the experiential pillars of a great visit: food, shows, shopping and nightlife,” this category encompasses culture, nightlife, dining, and shopping.
Referred to as “Canada’s energy capital,” the report lists Calgary’s points of pride as its people, educational attainment, and foreign-born residents. The city ranks 9th, 11th, and 24th in those categories, respectively.
“People here walk with the velocity of New Yorkers and cut to the chase like Texans,” the report said.
Although it ranks 23rd for its GDP Per Capita, Calgary saw its share of economic hardships in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic combined with the ongoing struggles of the oil and gas industry, creating the highest unemployment rate in Canada. In the summer of 2020 it stood at 15.5%.
But Calgary is a “city of risk-takers,” with the youngest population in Canada. New projects are popping up and cultural hubs are flourishing, reinforcing the city’s quality of life and building for its future.
The following are the World Best Cities 2021 Top 20:
1. London, England
2. New York, United States
3. Paris, France
4. Moscow, Russia
5. Tokyo, Japan
6. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
7. Singapore, Singapore
8. Barcelona, Spain
9. Los Angeles, United States
10. Madrid, Spain
11. Rome, Italy
12. Chicago, United States
13. Toronto, Canada
14. San Francisco, United States
15. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
16. St. Petersburg, Russia
17. Amsterdam, Netherlands
18. Berlin, Germany
19. Prague, Czech Republic
20. San Diego, United States
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