Calgary ranks in top 50 for best cities in 2021

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, just after Copenhagen, Denmark and ahead of Orlando, US, and is the fourth highest Canadian city on the list, behind Toronto (13th), Vancouver (34th), and Montreal (41st).

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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,“““““““` and people.

According to the report, Calgary gained points for its people, education, and foreign-born residents, despite its floundering economy.

“People here walk like New Yorkers and cut to the chase like Texans,” the report states.

“New projects, like the recently opened Central Library in the burgeoning cultural hub of East Village, reinforce the city’s lauded quality of life, despite current struggles.”

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.
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 “the experiential pillars of a great visit: food, shows, shopping and nightlife,” this category encompasses culture, nightlife, dining, and shopping.
Promotion – Covering a city’s “ability to tell its story,” this section looks at Facebook check-ins, TripAdvisor reviews, Google searches, Instagram hashtags, and more.
People – This measures how diverse a city’s population is, as well as the percentage of the population with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Calgary moved up one spot over last year’s ranking.

The following are the World Best Cities 2020 Top 20:

Other Canadian cities to make the top 100 included Ottawa at #67 and Edmonton at #76.