What actually makes a city great? Not just a good place to visit for a long weekend, but a genuinely compelling place to live, work and build a life. Is it the economy? The culture? The quality of the air you breathe on the way to work? The answer, according to Oxford Economics’ 2026 Global Cities Index, is all of it, and then some.
The index ranks 1,000 cities across five categories: economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. It is the most comprehensive city benchmarking tool in the world, and its 2026 results are out. New York, London and Paris hold the top three. But the more interesting story is what is happening everywhere else.
