<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/mar/11/time-out-melbourne-best-city-world>
"An annual global ranking has named Melbourne the best city in the world for
the first time. But it may be more to do with “vibes” than thorough analysis.
Time Out’s 50 Best Cities list for 2026, released on Wednesday, crowned an
Australian city as No 1 for the first time in its 10-year history, showering
Melbourne with acclaim for its food, culture and arts scenes.
Melbourne’s previously highest rank was No 2 in 2016, having placed fourth in
2025. Its ultimate rival, Sydney, also made the list at No 21, while Adelaide
came in at No 29.
Shanghai ranked second, Edinburgh third, and London and New York were fourth
and fifth.
For a comparatively small city of 5.5 million people (25 million people live in
Shanghai), it would be easy to begin yelling from the rooftops and cracking
open the VBs.
Particularly if you look at the previous winners. Last year Cape Town took out
the top spot but before that only the US and UK cities have been victorious
(including New York, Edinburgh, San Francisco, London and Chicago).
Drilling down into the methodology, things get a little more opaque."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
