Sydney has ranked in the world's top 20 most dynamic cities, in a new global index

The global editors at Time Out certainly have some ideas about what makes a city brilliant – the key is a well balanced offering of culture, nightlife, good food and cool neighbourhoods to explore, as well as vital infrastructure like public transport. And while Sydney’s public transport system has struggled over the past few weeks, in general – life here is relatively good. But the Time Out team aren’t the only ones pondering this planet’s cities. The IESE Cities In Motion Index has been researching which ones are the most 'dynamic', and to do so, it’s evaluated 183 different hubs and assessed them based on nine different criteria. 

The report describes its mission as a "commitment to promoting smart, sustainable, and inclusive cities" – all factors that they say help to make a city "dynamic". The nine criteria are human capital, social cohesion, economy, governance, environment, mobility and transportation, urban planning, international profile and technology. And this year, the Harbour City cracked the top 20.

Sydney’s ranking in this year’s list rose an impressive nine places, from 28th place in the 2024 rankings to 19th place – just beating Stockholm with a score of 64.08 out of 100. According to the report, “Australia’s largest city stands out for its strengths in human capital and international profile, cementing its status as a leader in both dimensions. Although mobility and transportation remains an area for improvement for Sydney, it continues to rank among the top cities thanks to its robust infrastructure and services.”

Our mates down in Melbourne out-did us by a few spots in the ranking, coming in at 16th place with a score of 65.34. The report cites Melbourne’s performance in “governance, human capital, and international profile, reflecting its commitment to quality of life, education, and administrative efficiency” and explains how  “its performance in social cohesion makes it one of the most balanced cities at the global level”.

According to the report, Australian and New Zealand cities are leading the charge in education, governance and sustainability. Go, team.

For the third year in a row, London claimed first place, with a perfect(!) score of 100 overall, largely thanks to criteria such as human capital, governance, urban planning and its international profile. New York claimed second place, with a score of 96.52, and Paris claimed the third spot, with a score of 83.4. In fact, Europe dominates the top 20, claiming 10 of the places but three American and two Australian cities made their way in, as well as three in Asia. 

These are the world’s 20 most dynamic cities, according to a new index:

1. London, UK
2. New York, USA
3. Paris, France
4. Tokyo, Japan
5. Berlin, Germany
6. Washington DC, USA
7. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Oslo, Norway
9. Singapore
10. San Francisco, USA
11. Seoul, South Korea
12. Amsterdam, Netherlands
13. Chicago, USA
14. Zurich, Switzerland
15. Munich, Germany
16. Melbourne, Australia
17. Hamburg, Germany
18. Boston, USA
19. Sydney, Australia
20. Stockholm, Sweden

In case you're interested, you can check out the full report here. 

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