Every year, Time Out surveys thousands of city dwellers around the world to come up with an annual ranking of the world’s greatest cities.
This year, for the first time, Time Out found which locations were best for Gen Z – which we classed as anyone under 30, technically Gen Z are 13-28 – by asking people what they thought about their city’s nightlife, food, culture, access to green spaces, and walkability.
According to our respondents, the UK’s best city for Gen Z is Edinburgh.
The Scottish capital came in seventh place in the global list (which was topped by Bangkok). Things like affordability, nightlife and walkability were all important factors to the urbanites who answered the survey. Edinburgh topped several categories in the Gen Z survey, receiving the highest score for green spaces and access to nature (according to 95 percent of twenty-somethings living there) and walkability (89 percent of Gen Z say the city is walkable). Seventy-four percent of the respondents classed Edinburgh as ‘ultra-beautiful’, while 79 percent said they found joy in the city’s everyday experiences.
Despite its high living cost (only 45 percent of respondents called it budget-friendly), London was ranked the second best UK city for Gen Z. The English capital ranked ninth overall, with 96 percent of Gen Z living there rating its culture scene highly. London also scored highly for its foodie scene, with 95 people rating it highly. Read more about London’s placement in the Gen Z list here.
In third place for the UK was Brighton, which 64 percent of people said was ‘diverse and inclusive’, and 79 percent of respondents said was a place where its locals ‘seem positive’.
The UK’s 10 best cities for Gen Z in 2025
- Edinburgh
- London
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Glasgow
- Belfast
- Leeds
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Cardiff
The world’s best cities for Gen Z to live in – according to Gen Z.
The 10 best cities in the UK for nightlife in 2025.
Death of the two-step: how old school dancing became Gen Z’s favourite night out.
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