Earlier this week the Happy City Index unveiled its sixth annual list of the planet’s happiest metropolises. The report ranked the world’s most content places based on a bunch of factors ranging from health stats and the strength of the economy to how well-governed and green each city is.
The top spots in the study weren’t too surprising, with Copenhagen, Zurich and Singapore taking podium positions. Here in the UK, London was named the country’s happiest city – the capital came 31st overall and was the only British place deemed worthy of ‘gold status’. You can read more about why London was considered so happy here.
But London wasn’t the only British city to make the Happy City Index’s top 100. Two other smaller places in Blighty featured in the ‘silver cities’ section, which was awarded to places 32 to 100.
The higher-placing of the two was York in 63rd, which did particularly well in the ‘environment’ category. Based purely on eco credentials – including stuff like promotion of renewable energy and recycling waste management – York was 13th-best in the world.
Next was Reading at 83, which didn’t really excel in any single category but instead enjoyed a stellar performance across the board. Eight other UK cities featured outside the top 100 in the ‘bronze’ positions: Manchester at joint 101st, Bristol at 103, Oxford at 118, Birmingham at 129, Cambridge at 145, Edinburgh at 161, Newcastle at 182 and Leicester at 188.
You can check out the Happy City Index 2025 in more detail here.
Did you see that 18 British cities were named among the best in Europe for 2025?
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