At Monocle we have always been curious about what makes cities tick and how they can be improved. We also thought that it was odd when rankings were driven by factors such as tax rates, GDP and living costs alone. Surely urban life should be judged on culture, retail, hospitality and architecture too? The result was a survey of 30 questions sent out to correspondents in 40 cities worldwide.

Nineteen years on, we continue to ask trusted correspondents whose judgement we value for their take. The survey still comprises questions that assess safety, connectivity, governance, green space and more. But we also check whether you can get a decent meal and a drink after 22.00. Every year, there are small tweaks to reflect how the world is changing. For 2026, we have paid special attention to excitement, urban ambition and security. For this survey, we also sought additional data from property specialist Knight Frank and EIT Edition’s Copenhagenize Index 2025 to build up better pictures of the cities that we scrutinised. The latter’s “bicycle modal share” figure measures the proportion of all daily trips taken on two wheels.

After poring over the numbers and reading correspondents’ views, our editors drafted a final line-up. North American cities have struggled (despite plucky Vancouver) due to stubbornly high rates of crime, inequality and poor housing. And in spite of a wealth of ambition – Cape Town’s public pools and Kigali’s spotless streets among them – Africa and the Middle East don’t offer the security of certain mature markets in Europe and Asia. Likewise, London and Los Angeles have failed to make it on to the list. So consider this the beginning of a debate rather than the end of one. According to the UN, four-fifths of the world’s population lives in urban areas (and more are coming). Cities are the engines of progress and an ongoing experiment – even the best ones aren’t perfect. The aim of this survey is to nudge the discussion around liveability away from stuffy policy towards a genuine conversation about what moves our hearts, minds and feet towards certain places. Does your city make the cut?

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20. Perth
tied with Kyoto

With a population hovering at about two million, Perth is the most isolated large city in the world. It’s five hours from Sydney by plane but the joke has always been that it’s also two decades behind it. Perhaps it’s a reflection of the laidback lifestyle associated with a place that has the most sunshine hours per year of any city in Australia – and one built around work-life balance and outdoor activity on its beaches, riverfronts and bushland escarpments.

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Despite its relaxed attitude, the metropolis has been supercharged in recent years by multiple major infrastructure projects – decades-long endeavours, many of which are now finally coming to fruition. Among these is the expansion of its rail network, making transit accessible to more of its leafy suburbs and linking its centre to an airport that includes the only direct connections between Australia and Europe. Perth’s urban centre and the abundant natural beauty of the Swan river come together at Elizabeth Quay, a newly complete central waterfront neighbourhood with office towers, luxury hotels and riverside dining, retail and recreation. The Perth City Link project has provided a point of reconnection too: the sinking of a railway line here has physically linked the central business district with Northbridge, a neighbourhood that’s home to several popular cultural institutions. The link’s crown jewel, Edith Cowan University’s city campus, opened earlier this year in a move that has injected youth and learning into a district that has long been crowded with engineers and mining executives (natural-resource extraction still drives the economy here).

These developments have made Perth a more attractive place to live, with residents enjoying the infrastructural benefits associated with global cities alongside the outdoor pursuits that have always made it special. Kings Park remains one of the world’s largest urban green spaces, combining botanical gardens and lawns with bushland walks. Meanwhile, the city’s riverine foreshores are popular for fishing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, and its abundant beaches allow residents easy access to places to swim and surf – or barbecue, picnic, skate and ride along the waterfront. The outlook remains sunny.

Adopt: Daylight saving time. It would extend evening sunlight, reducing energy costs and boosting local economic spending.

Drop: Mandatory helmet laws that are a barrier to cycling because they put off casual riders.

Population: 2 million (2.5 million in the metropolitan area)

Change in population over the past year: +1.9 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 12 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 22

Average hours of sunshine per year: 3,230

Number of public swimming pools: 118 (metro area)

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20.
Kyoto
tied with Perth

More than 50 million visitors arrive in Kyoto every year, crowding neighbourhoods and public transport not designed for such numbers. Nine in 10 residents report frustration with packed buses and trains. The city’s temples and shrines have survived centuries of earthquakes, fires and war but their tranquillity has not fared so well in recent years. Kyoto’s mayor, Koji Matsui, was elected in 2024 on a pledge to protect residents’ quality of life, in part by curbing visitor numbers. This March the city raised its accommodation tax, with guests at luxury hotels now paying up to ¥10,000 (€54) a person per night – a move set to generate ¥12.6bn (€68m) annually for transport improvements, cultural preservation and congestion relief. From 2027, tourists could pay up to double the bus fare charged to residents on key routes, subject to government approval. Japan has never seen measures quite like these.

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But perhaps Kyoto’s problem isn’t the number of visitors but attracting too many to too few places. The crowds that overwhelm Gion, Arashiyama and Fushimi Inari are packed into a tiny corner of the city that is home to more than 1,600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines. On a warm evening at the Kamogawa Delta, for instance, the pressures of overtourism can feel a world away. Students from nearby Kyoto and Doshisha universities gather along the riverbanks, office workers unwind and children hop across the stepping stones. Residents even have a name for this shared serenity: kamo-chill. For now, at least, this gentler lifestyle endures.

After more than half a century defending its low-rise skyline, Kyoto is now considering 60-metre towers – nearly double the current limit – around its central station, all in the name of “revitalisation”. But this is hardly a city in need of revitalising. It remains one of the world’s safest and most visited urban centres. The city lost some 32,000 residents between 2020 and 2025, partly due to suburbanisation and demographic decline, and taller buildings in the centre are unlikely to win them back. Kyoto’s future depends not on skyscrapers but on whether it can manage its success without eroding the qualities that made it so appealing in the first place.

Adopt: Kyoto should be branded as Japan’s premier student city. There’s more to it than cherry blossoms and temples.

Drop: The Kyoto station area is already one of Japan’s most charmless urban stretches. The last thing that it needs is 60-metre-tall towers.

Population: 1.4 million (16.6 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,141

Bicycle modal share: 21.5 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 61 per cent

Average rent for a three-bedroom apartment in city centre: ¥275,000 (€1,480)

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Kyoto

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19.
Vancouver

Following its absence in recent editions of our survey, Vancouver makes a welcome return as the only North American city to be included this year. Canada’s Pacific outpost continues to set continent-wide benchmarks in urban life, from transformative public-transport projects that are currently underway to an extensive cycling network. Despite rancour ahead of a municipal election in October (in which the incumbent mayor, Ken Sim, is seeking a second term), Vancouver’s appeal is undimmed and its population is growing. (Incomers include those choosing to leave an increasingly unwelcoming US.)

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Few cities boast a natural setting as breathtaking as Vancouver’s and its denizens take full advantage of the great outdoors. The 10 public beaches and 250 public parks range in scope from 37 off-leash dog parks to one of the jewels of North America’s green spaces in the wooded peninsula of Stanley Park. This focus on more wholesome pursuits has given it an early-to-bed, early-to-rise reputation but an after-hours meal or drink is now far easier to find, particularly in Chinatown and on Main Street.

High public engagement in civic life is enhanced by one of Canada’s best local newsrooms, The Tyee, an independent site launched in 2003 and rebranded in 2022 by Vancouver studio Rethink. A city well-informed about itself can broaden its gaze and welcome the world in. Vancouver does this with gusto: 40 per cent of the population was born overseas, according to Canada’s 2021 census, and its hosting of major international events, from this summer’s Fifa World Cup to the annual North American edition of Web Summit, demonstrates its appetite for looking outwards.

But recent moves by city hall have put progress at risk – particularly the pause on a rapid-housing initiative for those experiencing homelessness. Additional levies on foreign property buyers have done little to open up its housing stock, meaning that this remains one of Canada’s most expensive markets. Vancouver’s population is set to double by 2051. To prepare for this, major public-transport projects are taking shape, from an extension to the SkyTrain to a new metro line. Both display Vancouver’s ambitions about the kind of city that it is and wants to remain.

Adopt: A nimbler approach to development, both private and public. The process is too slow.

Drop: Opposition to the Burnaby Mountain Gondola, a proposed cable car connecting the SkyTrain to the nature park.

Population: 2.4 million (3.1 million in the metropolitan area)

Urban green space: 37 per cent

Bicycle modal share: 9 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 20 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airport: 55

Average time it takes to register a business: 1.5 days

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18.
Melbourne

At the opening of this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival, the city’s lord mayor, Nick Reece, read a poem that he had written. It began, “Melbourne’s had a big advantage ever since our early years,/’cause we weren’t an English prison – we were people with ideas./People of all cultures flocked and lifted Melbourne’s mood./They worked economic wonders – and they sure improved the food.” Melburnians never miss an opportunity to assert their home as Australia’s centre of culture, coffee and sport. This perhaps stems in part from status anxiety in the eternal competition with Sydney over which is the more important place. Newspapers in both cities know that belittling the other will harvest rage-induced clicks.

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While its northern rival has finished higher up our ranking this year, Melbourne has reason to shed this inferiority complex. It has excellent universities, hospitals, public transport and access to nature. A long-awaited expansion of its rail network, unveiled recently, has added five new underground stations in the inner city and centre. Construction has already begun on the AU$1.7bn (€1bn) Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation, which will include a new contemporary-art museum. The city’s housing strategy mandates 70 per cent of new homes must be built in established areas to reduce sprawl. Then there’s Melbourne’s culinary heft, with world-class restaurants and cafés – on coffee, it can safely claim to top the charts. Sport is a huge draw, with a F1 Grand Prix here since 1996 that has gained new popularity, particularly among young women.

Melbourne suffers from the cost-of-living and housing pressures that also plague other parts of Australia. Crime has risen in recent years, particularly theft and burglary, and, in recent months, fire-bombings on hospitality venues. At the same time, trust in the police has declined. Can Melbourne claw its way back up the index? Certainly. Authorities have addressed cost-of-living concerns by making public transport free from March to May, and afterwards half-price for a year. It is continuing to invest in expanding the rail network. But building an airport rail link is vital. As the city’s population grows, its lack of one is impossible to countenance.

Adopt: An airport rail link. Every year this becomes more urgent.

Drop: Melburnians’ dependence on driving. The city remains car-centric, despite having great public transport.

Population: 5.3 million (five million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,363

Bicycle modal share: 1.9 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 19 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 37

Urban green space: 37 per cent

Number of public swimming pools (metro area): 258

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Melbourne

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17.
Seoul

Earlier this year, South Korea’s now ousted president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was sentenced to life imprisonment over his brief declaration of martial law in late 2024. For months, central Seoul became a stage for rival rallies, with supporters and opponents of the disgraced leader marching through downtown avenues almost daily. Yet the speed with which the capital regained its composure says much about the resilience of one of Asia’s most sophisticated democracies. A year on, there are few visible traces of political upheaval.

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Today much is going Seoul’s way. Few cities exert as much influence on global popular culture, whether through the worldwide success of K-pop icons BTS, the rise of K-beauty or the international appetite for Korean food and television. The National Museum of Korea recently became the world’s third-most-visited museum, behind the Louvre and the Vatican. If culture is what first draws attention, then safety, convenience and efficiency are what underpin the city’s enduring allure. Its already formidable public-transport system has expanded, with additions such as the eco-friendly Hangang Bus, which offers commuters and tourists traffic-free journeys along the Han River, and the GTX high-speed rail network that reaches speeds of up to 180km/h.

Despite its neighbour to the north, a feeling of personal security shapes daily life. Lost phones and wallets are often returned untouched. This sense of public trust helps to sustain Seoul’s 24-hour culture, with saunas, cafés and restaurants remaining open past midnight, while night buses operate until dawn. In addition to green spaces expanding within the city, the mountains surrounding Seoul are central to its rhythm. On weekends, trails quickly fill with residents in hiking gear, reflecting an outdoor culture that is unusually embedded in everyday urban life. Air quality is a concern but fine-dust levels have dropped by more than 40 per cent in the past two decades.

Seoul’s relentless energy is double-edged. Long working hours continue to define office culture, while students shuttle between academies late into the evening. The capital excels at efficiency and doesn’t lack ambition but continues to wrestle with whether its residents have enough time to enjoy the quality of life that it offers.

Adopt: Stronger legal protections and easier-to-use bureaucratic systems for foreign residents.

Drop: Redevelopment projects that place high-rise towers around historic sites such as Jongmyo Shrine.

Population: 9.6 million (26.3 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,066

Bicycle modal share: 1.8 per cent

Urban green space: 31 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 66 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 161

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16.
Helsinki

Though the Finnish capital has recovered after a few recent setbacks, it has nevertheless fallen in our rankings. The sharp decline in high-spending Asian and Russian tourists – combined with a shift towards remote work in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic – has been felt in the commercial districts and in the broader urban atmosphere. In terms of vibrancy, downtown Helsinki occasionally feels quieter and more restrained than the confident and cool Nordic capital that topped this list in 2011. While a landmark Architecture and Design Museum is slated to open in 2030, the city currently lacks some of the ingredients needed to create a stronger sense of occasion: more world-class restaurants, a vibrant club and nightlife scene, architecturally ambitious buildings and a denser concentration of cultural destinations that encourage people to linger in the centre.

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Still, Helsinki’s core offer remains exceptionally appealing. The city is blessed with a world-class education system, efficient public services and a highly functional city hall that is led by a dynamic new millennial mayor, Daniel Sazonov. Public trust in the police stands at 92 per cent, the streets are safe and clean, and there are more than 1,500km of top-quality cycle lanes. Its cultural assets are significant too, from the waterfront setting and Finland’s celebrated saunas to growing creative and start-up scenes.

But Helsinki so often undersells itself internationally. There can be a lack of the kind of confidence and bold storytelling displayed by rival Nordic capitals Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. For too long, functionality has been the cornerstone of the city’s identity. However, safety, efficiency and good governance do not automatically translate into excitement or emotional attachment. Geography undoubtedly plays a role in this. For much of the year, Helsinki is cold and dark, an environment that naturally encourages many of its residents to stay indoors. But climate alone cannot explain the current relative lack of dynamism. To strengthen its international standing, Helsinki must embrace a bolder, more ambitious identity that balances functionality with culture, ambition and a stronger sense of occasion.

Adopt: More pedestrian zones, more life on the islands – and more international ambition.

Drop: Excessive demolition of old buildings. New constructions don’t have the same atmosphere as more historic areas.

Population: 690,000 (1.6 million in the metropolitan area)

Bicycle modal share: 11 per cent

Protected bicycle infrastructure: 600km

Urban green space: 44 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 52 per cent

Cost of monthly travelcard: €73.90

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Helsinki

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15.
Amsterdam

How many cities can claim to be simultaneously a cycling utopia, a hedonist’s playground and a technology hub? Amsterdam does all three with characteristic Dutch nonchalance – and that’s precisely where both its genius and its drawbacks lie.

The fundamentals remain enviable. Unemployment is very low, working weeks are short and Schiphol, which offers more intercontinental connections than almost any other airport in the world, anchors the city at the centre of global mobility. A flat hierarchy and relaxed attitude to work-life balance make the place feel like a social experiment that has succeeded.

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This culture is most visible when you’re on two wheels. Amsterdam is one of the world’s cycling capitals. The bicycle is not merely convenient here; it’s the default, an unspoken part of the social contract. Equally, taking a dip in the quieter canals beyond the central ring is a civic ritual rather than a dare. In terms of culture, Amsterdam continues to punch above its weight, with the likes of photography museum Foam and contemporary-art spaces such as Galerie Fons Welters and Akinci. The restaurant scene accumulates new jewels weekly and the retail offer – diverse, independent, international – rewards the curious.

Yet success has its price. Sustained growth since the early 2000s has driven the housing market into uncomfortable territory. Even with almost 40 per cent of stock held as social rentals, affordability is increasingly a privilege of the wealthy. The city builds too slowly and accommodates too many tourists without a coherent strategy for either.

Street-level quality of life has slipped. Bin bags often litter the pavements and the proliferation of fast-moving fat-tyre bikes has made cycling more hazardous. Beyond these everyday frustrations, Amsterdam is positioning itself as a European technology centre and AI hub, leveraging the fact that a substantial share of global internet traffic already passes through the region. The new coalition of greens and social liberals has pledged to keep the city liveable for everyone, not merely an increasingly affluent minority. The instinct is right but whether the governance matches the ambition is another matter.

Adopt: Tidier streets, which can be achieved by increasing clean-up operations or enforcing harsher punishments for those who litter and pollute.

Drop: Stroopwafel shops in the city centre. Why so many?

Population: 945,000 (3 million in the metropolitan area)

Bicycle modal share: 37 per cent

Urban green space: 28 per cent

Protected bicycle infrastructure: 634km

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 29 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airport: 274

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14.
Singapore

At a time of instability, Singapore has gone all in on its message of political calm and predictability for commerce. The city-state’s Economic Development Board has launched a campaign in which it describes Singapore as “a place where everything is the right side up”.

This safe-haven status is largely attributable to stable leadership (helped by a lack of democratic scrutiny) and citizens’ high trust in the police – 97 per cent of respondents in a survey expressed confidence in the force. And the ease of doing business remains a constant: it takes little more than a day to register a new venture, while low corporation- and income-tax rates make Singapore an attractive place to set up shop. For firms based here, government support has provided a bulwark in uncertain times, even if it impinges on free-market dynamism. Singapore’s location means easy trips for work or pleasure in the region, bolstered by Changi Airport’s passport-free clearance system – one reason why it has been crowned the world’s best airport two years in a row.

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Singapore draws criticism for its sterility and it is true that high costs hamper the opening of bricks-and-mortar shops and restaurants. But Singaporeans are enthusiastic about local ventures – look at New Bahru, a thriving lifestyle complex for Singaporean brands – and the F&B scene is still one of the best in the world. Recent openings include Taiwanese chef Andre Chiang’s 1887 by Andre at the Raffles Hotel, Damian D’Silva’s Eurasian restaurant Gilmore and South Korean barman Uno Jang’s bop. Singapore’s art ecosystem is growing – a number of transnational names, such as the Yenn and Alan Lo Foundation and the Tanoto Art Foundation, have coloured in the empty spaces with galleries, exhibitions and events.

Perhaps Singapore’s greatest asset is its multiculturalism, which is refreshing in a divided world. Its leaders display ambition when it comes to increasing connectivity: a new rapid-transit link to Johor Bahru in Malaysia will launch this year; the groundbreaking Tuas megaport is opening in phases; and, as part of the Singapore Green Plan 2030, this already lush location will become greener still with a swath of new nature parks.

Adopt: Thoughtful policies or guardrails that prevent shopping malls from becoming identical.

Drop: Rigid nightlife regulations. Alcohol trading hours are too restricted and night-time licences hard to obtain.

Population: 6.1 million

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,022

Bicycle modal share: 9 per cent

Protected bicycle infrastructure: 730km

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 44 per cent

Number of social-housing units: 1.1 million (almost 80 per cent of Singapore’s residents live in public housing)

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Singapore

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13.
Barcelona

Barcelona’s status as this year’s World Capital of Architecture is well deserved. The city is a global leader when it comes to building design and urban planning. Its affordable and efficient transport system is expanding, with a project to join up two main tram routes and an extension of the metro line connecting to the airport. Meanwhile, Parc de la Ciutadella is getting a much-needed revamp. With streets becoming greener and residents still benefiting from the gold-standard 19th-century urban layout, it’s no wonder that 40 per cent of the workforce does its daily commute on foot. Unfortunately, the mayor, Jaume Collboni, has decided not to continue the celebrated Superblocks plan started by his predecessor Ada Colau, which limited through traffic in the city centre.

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Improving life for locals while managing the 26 million visitors who come here every year – some of whom decide to stay – is a fine line to walk. Barcelona’s once-vibrant cultural offering has been chipped away, with young people priced out of a nightlife scene tailored to tourists. That said, authorities appear unafraid to tackle these issues head-on. The newly appointed commissioner for sustainable tourism, José Antonio Donaire, says that the city has reached its maximum number of visitors and the tourist agency’s official slogan has been changed from “Visit Barcelona” to “This is Barcelona” – marking a clear shift in messaging. A ban on tourist apartments that is expected to come into effect in 2028 is designed to take some of the pressure off the housing market, where rent currently accounts for 74 per cent of the average salary. Meanwhile, the purchase of entire buildings by speculative funds has already fallen by 31 per cent in the past year, thanks to Spain’s first housing law, which was passed in 2023.

Not everyone comes here to lie in the sun. Barcelona hosts more conference delegates than any other city and is particularly competitive when it comes to medical, science-related and technology events. As it marks the 100th anniversary of Antoni Gaudí’s death in June, the still unfinished Sagrada Família stands as a fitting emblem of a place that’s unafraid to innovate but fiercely committed to preserving its heritage, traditions and identity.

Adopt: A more effective cycling strategy – and more bicycle lanes – to move away from an overreliance on cars and motorcycles.

Drop: Brunch spots aimed at tourists have proliferated to the point where the slogan “Stop brunch” is starting to catch on.

Population: 1.7 million (5.4 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,591

Bicycle modal share: 2.7 per cent

Number of homes built last year: 1,200

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 37 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airport: 164

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Barcelona

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12.
Milan

We are only about halfway through the year but Milan has enjoyed an excellent 2026. While the Winter Olympics might not have reached the fever pitch of the Summer Games, having images of your city’s cathedral beamed to a couple of billion viewers around the world will do wonders for both your soft power and quality-of-life credentials (reminding people, among other things, of Milan’s proximity to the Alps).

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February’s Milano-Cortina shindig wasn’t the only thing that has worked in the Lombard capital’s favour this year. What started off as a pitter-patter of column inches about Milan’s desirability turned into a deluge of publications clamouring to discuss how you can be in Liguria for lunch or pop to the mountains for a pre-breakfast ski (we exaggerate but only slightly). Certainly, Italy’s favourable fiscal rules – including a flat tax of €300,000 on foreign income that favours the wealthy – has seen people flocking to Milan from cities such as London and Paris.

While there have been some negative effects – including rising property prices in an already squeezed market – Milan has also become an increasingly international place. That effect has been felt on the city’s dining scene, which was already excellent but strongest for offerings that were classic and Italian. No longer. Stainless steel and mood lighting are the new order of the day, with excellent new spots covering everything from Indonesian to Brazilian and Korean cuisine. Natural wine, small plates and speciality coffee are becoming ubiquitous.

All of which is good news for a city that aspires to top the leadership boards – and one that can boast among the highest proportions of commutes done by public transport in southern Europe. That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of problems still to overcome. Some are easy to resolve (cycle lanes that end abruptly, pushing you onto a busy artery; a proliferation of graffiti); others less so (dangerous levels of air pollution in the Po Valley). Somehow, however, Milan’s imperfections are part of its charm. Its proximity to great escapes and its smart, creative denizens leading the business, fashion and design scenes make it hard to ignore.

Adopt: A tougher stance on graffiti. Authorities have long been too laissez-faire.

Drop: Heading out of town at weekends. Milan needs residents to stick around and help to make their city more fun.

Population: 1.3 million (5 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 1,915

Bicycle modal share: 7 per cent

Price of an espresso: €1.30

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 42 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 103

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Milan

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11.
Stockholm

Stockholm is in one of its fits of reinvention. After years of development, the SEK12bn (€1.1bn) New Slussen project, a gleaming urban quarter that connects Södermalm to the old town, is complete and teeming with people. The traffic is gone and in its place is a kind of Scandinavian corniche filled with pedestrians and cyclists, with striking views of Lake Mälaren to the west and the island of Djurgården to the east. Summer always brings a wave of optimism to the Swedish capital and this year is no different. A swimming area at Pålsundet, a narrow water passage filled with green nooks and old wooden boats, is already proving a hit with residents.

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Stockholm’s trump card is its natural beauty. Wherever you are in the city, a park, forest or swimming spot is never far away. Access to nature is enshrined in the Swedish law of allemansrätte (“the right to roam”). This is a place where you can come as you are – whether fully clothed or not – and where a strong social contract endures.

Nonetheless, there has recently been much criticism from both inside and outside the city about the fact that the Swedish model of high taxes in return for free health care, childcare and education has not protected the country from economic and racial segregation. Gang violence has plagued Stockholm but thanks to a country-wide programme that helps the police to co-ordinate more closely with central government, deadly shootings have fallen in the past year. As of this writing, no one had died in a shooting in Stockholm in 2026 (down from four in 2025 and eight in 2024).

The Swedish capital seems to be turning a corner. Huge investments are upgrading its metro and overground lines and there are plans to densify the city in an attempt to make it even an even more attractive place to live and work. The redevelopment of the Central Station area will bring with it hundreds of new homes, while in Sickla, a new neighbourhood built almost entirely from wood is taking shape. Both point to a streamlining of planning laws and a removal of bureaucracy that have led the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise to give the capital its best grade in 25 years when it comes to ease of doing business.

Adopt: More changing-rooms, showers and saunas at the city’s many excellent swimming spots.

Drop: Strict enforcement of noise controls at late-night bars. Many beloved establishments have closed down in recent years.

Population: 999,000 (2.5 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 1,803

Bicycle modal share: 14 per cent

Urban green space: 46 per cent

Average time taken to register a new business: 7.5 days

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 194

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Stockholm

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10.
Oslo

Oslo sits at ease with both its heritage and new role as a hyper-modern green capital – a self-assuredness that sees it finish above Stockholm this year (förlåt!). Decades of ambitious harbour-side developments are now complete. Known collectively as Fjord City, they have fully opened up the waterfront and transformed the Norwegian capital into an outward-facing city. The centrepiece is Bjørvika and the twin architectural gems of the Opera House and the Munch Museum. Fornebubanen, a major expansion of the metro system, will soon link the city centre with the rapidly expanding Fornebu peninsula in the west, once home to Oslo airport – another example of city hall furthering growth through electric public transport rather than roads.

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The electrification of public transport now includes quiet ferries to islands in the Oslo fjord. Thanks to other green-infrastructure initiatives such as carbon capture and storage from the city’s waste-incineration plant, Norway’s capital could even achieve its highly ambitious goal of cutting emissions by 95 per cent by 2030.

Here, it’s not uncommon to see children travelling alone on trams, the metro or buses – a result of the city’s enviably low crime rates, which are below the European average and among the lowest in this survey. There are signs too that stories of Oslo’s impressive regeneration and safe, comfortable living are finally reaching more people beyond Norway’s borders. Visitor numbers are up – helped, perhaps, by the films of Joachim Trier, including the Oscar-winning Sentimental Value, which paint an appealing and intriguing picture of Oslo. So is the number of start-ups, though the city still lags behind the other Scandinavian capitals in scale and ambition.

Almost all of those who call Oslo home live less than 300 metres from a green space. Commuters increasingly choose to walk or cycle to work, where they typically spend 37 hours a week (when they’re not enjoying some of their five-week annual holiday allowance). Oslo’s small size is both attractive and a drawback: it will never be a global capital magnet. But it has proven to be big enough to produce unicorns and to finish 10th in our survey.

Adopt: A push to attract more international companies and secure better funding avenues for promising start-ups.

Drop: The flyover casting a shadow over the vibrant Grønland area – a remnant of a long-gone ring road.

Population: 730,000 (1.5 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 1,668

Bicycle modal share: 7 per cent

Urban green space: 48 per cent

Cost of monthly travel card: NOK2,198 (€202)

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 153

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9.
Munich

In 2026, Munich seems to be oscillating between confidence and concern – a mood that’s exemplified by its new mayor, Dominik Krause. The 35-year-old is the first Green leader of a German city with more than a million inhabitants and was the surprise winner of May’s municipal elections. According to a report by Gisma University of Applied Sciences, he is almost 20 years younger than the average Oberbürgermeister – the title given to mayors of large German municipalities.

One of Krause’s first moves was to reject his grace-and-favour chauffeured limousine, in favour of a daily metro commute. He also worked out a safety compromise to allow for the reopening of the surfing wave on the river Isar, which has closed after a deadly accident involving a female surfer last year.

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Krause’s two main priorities are a reminder of the major challenges facing Munich. The first is housing: his new ruling coalition aims to create 50,000 new apartments. To do so, it plans to develop new sites in the north of the city, convert vacant offices into flats and use so-called infill development, adding extra floors to existing housing stock, or erecting high-rises (such as the two spectacular 155-metre-tall towers planned by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron). This is controversial in a city that cherishes its views of the Alps.

The second and more recent of Munich’s woes concerns its finances. City hall’s budget for 2026 stands at a record €2.9bn – a source of anxiety, given that it is contending with a steeper-than-expected decline in trade tax revenue because of the struggles of usually dependable corporate behemoths such as BMW.

As a result of this uncertain financial landscape, Krause made one of his most controversial announcements so far in May: in a video posted on social media he explained his plan to raise fees in a wide range of areas, from parking and dog ownership to nursery schools.

That video was filmed in one of Munich’s many lush parks. It was a reminder that this is a city whose historic economic success has strong civic foundations rooted in green space, low crime and a high quality of life.

Adopt: The Ludwigstrasse project, which aims to pedestrianise a traffic-heavy central boulevard and fill it with trees.

Drop: Lengthy planning and approval procedures, bureaucratic delays and hesitation about large-scale development projects.

Population: 1.6 million (6.2 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 1,756

Bicycle modal share: 21 per cent

Protected bicycle infrastructure: 725km

Urban green space: 51 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airport: 127

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8.
Paris

Paris is a city steeped in the past but one that is nonetheless looking resolutely forward. Its third consecutive socialist mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, was elected in March with a mandate to extend the sweeping green transition pioneered by his predecessor, Anne Hidalgo. With temperatures nudging towards 35C at the time of writing, it’s too early for some of her most apposite innovations to be enjoyed. The reopening of the Seine and parts of the Canal St Martin to bathers was celebrated as a historic milestone when it was green-lit in 2024 but Parisians will have to wait until later this summer to dive in and cool off.

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Still, with 155,000 trees planted during Hidalgo’s tenure in office and hundreds of kilometres of additional cycle lanes, the streets inherited by Grégoire are cooler, greener and arguably more beautiful than ever. In the latter regard, one of Grégoire’s first appointments was a general delegate for design and aesthetics, tasked with maintaining what the new mayor has defined as Parisians’ “right to beauty”. The French capital doesn’t have the spectacular parks of some of its European counterparts and limitations on green space become clearer when the sun shines. Grégoire’s mandate rests in no small part on his commitment to transform a further 10 boulevards into gardens.

In line with trends across the West, Paris seems set to become a liberal, metropolitan island in an increasingly illiberal country. However, the city isn’t complacent: a recently revamped visa system requires newcomers to participate in civic training before passing an exam as a condition of their stay. It reflects a sensible approach to culture and values that is at odds with the culture-war conflicts seen in many of France’s European counterparts.

With the highest number of cinemas per capita, about 400 independent bookshops doing a roaring trade and a thriving print media, Paris is still Europe’s cultural juggernaut. And, as 2024’s Olympics proved, the City of Light now remains undimmed throughout the summer. Still, security is an ongoing concern. Paris Saint-Germain, the capital’s all-beating football team, should inspire joy but their Champions League victory in May led to the kind of disorder that too often mars this city’s reputation.

Adopt: More green space. Continuing the development of the Petite Ceinture railway into a green walkway would be a good start.

Drop: The camera phone. The photogenic nature of the city’s streets, bars and food has attracted too many influencers.

Population: 2.1 million (13.3 million in the metropolitan area)

Bicycle modal share: 11.2 per cent

Number of cinemas: 610 (most in the world)

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 50 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 215

Urban green space: 15 per cent

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Paris

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7.
Madrid

The word castizo is used by Madrileños to describe those things that best embody their city’s identity. It’s a spirit that eschews the modern for the traditional. But, in recent years, the Spanish capital has evolved from bastion of the past to trailblazer, propelled by an economy that has seen GDP per capita surge 78 per cent higher than the national average. The city’s population is at a historic high, spurred by the almost one in three of its inhabitants who are foreign-born. In Madrid province, 42.4 per cent of newcomers have advanced degrees. Spain’s pull factor on Latin America’s brightest and best shows with close to half of Venezuelans and Argentinians arriving with higher education. The buzz of being an emerging business hub can be felt in Madrid’s vibrant retail and hospitality spaces. Sun-soaked terraces are filled with people enjoying the slow pleasures of a high quality of life that draws heavily on the city’s access to fresh food and a culture of late-night socialising. These are said to contribute to the fact that its residents have the highest life expectancy of any city in Europe.

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By reducing red tape, Madrid hopes to become more agile in responding to urgent issues such as the housing crisis that it is now facing. While the local government works to increase stock, it’s imperative that it continues to press developers to provide affordable housing in meaningful numbers. Last summer was one of the hottest on record, with municipal pools providing a lifeline. However, there aren’t enough of these oases, with 20.4 per cent of residents living in districts with no public pools and 30 per cent of Madrileños unable to holiday outside of the sizzling capital during summer. By early next year, the city centre will have a newly pedestrianised connection between Puerta de Alcalá and Cibeles, and will also debut Parque Ventas, a green space linking the Salamanca and Ciudad Lineal neighbourhoods across the M-30 ring road.

Cycling is on the up, with journeys on Bicimad public electric bikes quadrupling between 2022 and 2025 to 13.7 million. The metro’s 7B line has reopened, though, and the soon-to-be-completed Line 6 will debut driverless trains in 2027. Any mention of castizo must now include an acceptance of the city’s forward thinking.

Adopt: Subsidies for rooftop solar panels that would provide residents with some energy autonomy in a sun-rich environment.

Drop: A politics of fear whipped up against immigrants by far-right politicians and sometimes exacerbated by the police.

Population: 3.5 million (7.5 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,769

Bicycle modal share: 0.5 per cent

Urban green space: 30 per cent

Cost of monthly travel card: €49.20

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airports: 197

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Madrid

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6.
Zürich

For the first time in almost two decades, Zürich has a new mayor. After 17 years, Corine Mauch, the first woman to hold the role, has stepped down. Her successor, Raphael Golta, also comes from the Social Democratic Party. The city has moved even further to the left politically, with seven members of the municipal government now coming from left-wing parties. Golta faces several challenges, from a cycling network that’s causing headaches for everyone (including cyclists) to the ongoing problem of creating more affordable housing.

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The latter is the issue that continues to dominate. In 2025, however, there was a little progress: 2,977 apartments were completed in new developments, 347 more than in 2024. Yet the vacancy rate remains exceptionally low at 0.1 per cent, amounting to just 235 empty flats across the entire city.

If housing is Zürich’s biggest weakness, public transport is undoubtedly its world-beating strength. In March the city said auf Wiedersehen to the last high-floor trams of the Tram 2000 generation. Since then, every tram has been low-floor – a significant step forward when it comes to accessibility. Meanwhile, the largest timetable overhaul in history was introduced to better reflect current travel patterns. The changes involved the renumbering of well-known routes and passengers required a considerable adjustment period. Replacing about 2,500 signs almost overnight was also a reminder of something that Zürich does exceptionally well: make complex changes look effortless.

Voters approved measures to make public transport more affordable too. In the future, they will pay just CHF365 (€399) a year for a travel pass, compared with the current price of CHF813 (€889). All of this for a network that’s so beloved that some 60 per cent of commuters use it to get to work. And Zürich remains remarkably safe. Crime fell by 8 per cent in 2025.

As its population continues to grow, the city’s two major newspapers (Tages Anzeiger and NZZ) provide world-class journalism, while the lake offers one of the best ways to relax during the warmer months.

Adopt: Sunday shopping. Zürich allows only four shopping Sundays a year, making each feel like a major event.

Drop: Early closing hours. Finding a meal after 22.00 remains surprisingly difficult in Switzerland’s largest city.

Population: 450,000 (1.7 million in the metropolitan area)

Bicycle modal share: 11 per cent

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 56 per cent

Number of social-housing units: 60,539

Average monthly net salary: CHF6,790 (€7,413)

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airport: 212

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Zürich

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5.
Sydney

Sydney’s comeback has been 20 years in the making. Though its natural assets – from its vast harbour to its more than 100 beaches – have always assured Australia’s largest city a high baseline lifestyle, for decades there has been the pervading sense that it was past its prime, had lost the global spotlight and was squandering its enormous potential. However, successive state governments have found the courage to commit to ambitious infrastructure projects with big budgets. Sydney has felt like a construction site for years but the makeover is almost complete.

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George Street, the city’s main artery, has been pedestrianised, pumping energy into the surrounding environment, boosting safety and giving the city centre a fresh vibrancy. The street is also the nexus of the new light rail lines, which have brought trams back into Sydney’s public-transport mix. The metro – Australia’s only mass rapid-transit rail – is also reshaping the city and the way that Sydneysiders traverse it. The network will also link up with Western Sydney International Airport when it opens next year.

Innovation abounds, from the state gallery’s gleaming Sanaa-designed wing to Kengo Kuma’s tornadic tower in Chinatown. But Sydney’s most striking new building is the New Sydney Fish Market, the southern hemisphere’s largest market of its kind, which opened in January this year. It’s also the linchpin of the Bays Precinct urban-renewal project.

Novelty can’t solve all of Sydney’s issues. Rocketing land prices are driving up rents and causing cultural collateral damage. The city’s formerly glorious live-music scene is one casualty of many. And the New South Wales government’s zeal for fun-stifling over-regulation means that it sometimes feels as though you’re having a great night out despite, not because of, the city. If it continues to polish off its rough edges, Sydney risks losing its laid-back charm.

Still, Australia’s sleeping beauty has reawakened from its self-imposed slumber and has never looked or felt better. But cities are shaped by people, not projects. The final piece of the puzzle is Sydneysiders themselves. It’s up to them to get back out there and ensure that their home finally lives up to its reputation.

Adopt: More positivity. Sydneysiders love to play down their own city – it often feels like they are trying to pre-empt criticism.

Drop: Vacant tenancies. Commercial landlords have kept increasing rents, leading to an exodus of beloved businesses.

Population: 5.7 million in the metropolitan area

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,468

Average monthly net salary: AU$5,930 (€3,630)

Bicycle modal share: 1 per cent

Number of public swimming pools: 350

Price of a flat white: AU$4.50 (€2.75)

Urban green space: 41 per cent

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Sydney

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4.
Vienna

Vienna is used to welcoming the world but this year the city has outdone itself. In May it staged the Eurovision Song Contest for the third time. The contest remains one of the largest globally televised events with about 200 million people tuning in every year and the 2026 iteration showcased once again why the Austrian capital is the consummate host. The past year also saw the inaugural World Tramdriver Championship, Vienna Design Week and countless UN, Opec and International Atomic Energy Agency meetings. Meanwhile, people are beginning to take notice of the city’s vineyards and excellent municipal swimming pools too.

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Vienna continues to adapt its architectural heritage, with work beginning on the transformation of the Funkhaus, the former radio headquarters of national broadcaster ORF, into a mixed-use residential and hospitality development. Meanwhile, in March, Villa Beer by modernist architect-designer Josef Frank opened its doors to the public for the first time after an extensive restoration.

Repairs and refurbishment have also been at the heart of the city’s celebrated social-housing programme, initially begun in the 1920s when the collapse of empire precipitated an acute housing shortage. Construction has continued ever since. Not only have the authorities built five new schemes comprising some 400 flats over the past 12 months, they also renovated 11 complexes in 2025 alone. And that’s despite cuts of about €200m in social welfare, including minimum-income support and pension benefits.

At the same time, officials have stepped up their efforts to overhaul the city’s heating infrastructure and move residents towards district heating – which is more efficient than other solutions and central to a pledge to make Vienna carbon neutral by 2040, a decade ahead of the EU’s target. The challenge remains to decommission some 500,000 gas boilers still in use across half of the city’s households. Elsewhere, city hall has launched a new funding scheme for food businesses even as more culinary projects and festivals – such as Popchop, which stages events everywhere from the Museum of Applied Arts to the Funkhaus – continue to multiply.

Adopt: Longer Sunday opening hours. Parts of the city are catatonic on the Sabbath. We would like to be out and about.

Drop: Restriction of voting rights for mayoral elections to Austrian citizens. Over a third of Vienna’s population are non-Austrians.

Population: 2 million (3.2 million in the metropolitan area)

Average hours of sunshine per year: 2,048

Bicycle modal share: 11 per cent

Number of social housing units: 220,000

Proportion of commutes by public transport: 34 per cent

Number of international destinations served by the city’s airport: 56

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Vienna

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3.
Lisbon

While some of Lisbon’s recent success is down to its natural advantages – its many hours of sunshine, vibrant food scene and stunning architecture – much of it is the culmination of a decade or so of good governance and hard work. Consistent investment in public transport has resulted in an expansive system that incorporates the metro, trams and river boats. City hall recently announced the first new tram line to be built in almost 70 years. The arrival of electric bikes has begun to change local habits and defy the challenges imposed by the city’s hilly terrain, with the number of regular journeys by bicycle increasing by 500 per cent between 2011 and 2021. Meanwhile, Lisbon airport continues to act as a key hub for those crossing the Atlantic or travelling to Africa, aided by long-standing relations with the Portuguese-speaking world.

Walking through Lisbon, it quickly becomes obvious how a healthy independent retail scene can help to make a city great. Lisboetas adore local farmers’ markets, buying a newspaper at a kiosk or visiting one of the many historic independent shops that are protected under municipality-led programme Lojas Com História. The city’s cultural offering continues to grow, with museums such as the new Centre de Arte Moderna (CAM) at the Gulbenkian Foundation and international fairs such as Arco drawing a cool, creative set from across the globe.

Lisbon has long ranked as one of the safest cities in the world, enhancing its allure as a place to visit or relocate to. However, there is work to be done to ensure that it doesn’t become a victim of its own success. A rise in new arrivals has put pressure on services and last year’s deadly funicular crash and nationwide blackout tested Lisbon’s resilience and social fabric.

As with many European capitals, housing remains a pinch point, with the pace of construction lagging in relation to demand, meaning that choice is often linked to your tax bracket. The challenge ahead is to bridge the gap between the interests of locals and those of expats when it comes to the cost of living, before Lisbon becomes two cities in one.

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Lisbon

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2.
Copenhagen

In November 2025 there was an earthquake in Copenhagen – a political one, in which the Social Democrats lost control of the city for the first time in more than 100 years. The Socialist People’s Party and the Red-Green Alliance, both on the far left of the political spectrum, were the major winners of the municipal election. On the new council’s agenda are the cost and availability of housing, climate change and a push to rid the centre of pesky cars.

Copenhageners should have faith in such initiatives. After all, this is the place that revolutionised urban cycling before exporting its ideas worldwide. It’s also a city with high social capital and trust, as well as the all-important desire not to rest on its laurels.

Though voters punished the Social Democrats for the high cost of living in March’s general election, in which they lost 12 seats, you wouldn’t know that it’s a problem judging by Copenhagen’s booming restaurant scene and the many retail options in the city centre and the Bridge Quarters. This remains an amazing city in which to shop and eat (before 22.00, at least). Copenhageners look and feel affluent, and are far more comfortable displaying their wealth than they used to be.

One thing that the new council has done is restrict hotel development in the city – in response to the housing shortage but also to the feeling that tourism has become overwhelming. Getting around has never been easier, especially since the recent extension to the 24/7 Metro (with more to come). Copenhagen continues to have very low crime rates, while the ongoing developments in Nordhavn, Sydhavn and Refshaleøen show that it still wants to grow, while pursuing better ways of living for its inhabitants.

Two lifestyle trends are of note. First, communal living is on the up. Increasing numbers of Copenhageners are putting their names down for housing with shared spaces, formalised communities and social dining. Second, the Danes have a seemingly insatiable lust for winter bathing and saunas. Copenhagen has experienced a sauna boom over the past couple of years and waiting lists for winter bathing clubs are ever growing. As ever, leisure time is well spent in the Danish capital.

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Copenhagen

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1.
Tokyo

In fractious times, Tokyo is an outlier for its stability, calm and security. Young children walk to school unaccompanied by their parents, huge events take place every week without major disorder, and crime rates are consistently low. Despite its size, the Japanese capital retains an old-fashioned sense of community. Young people are taught to be considerate. Individual excellence is celebrated but even sporting megastars are expected to stay humble. It would be hard to replicate Tokyo’s modus operandi but we can certainly admire it. So much of this lies in patterns of behaviour that are internalised from birth: quiet voices on public transport; the patient queues on the subway platform; the glass of water and oshibori hand towel at the start of a meal.

Yuriko Koike, Tokyo’s 73-year-old governor, is one of the most powerful figures in Japanese politics. Now deep into her third four-year term, she has steered Tokyo through the pandemic, its troubled Olympic Games and several typhoons. From her office in Nishi Shinjuku, she oversees a city with a $2.5trn (€2.1trn) GDP, a population of 14 million and a dizzying transport network.

The city plays the long game when it comes to transport and construction projects. The complex reconfiguration of busy Shinjuku station won’t be completed until the 2040s. JR East has reinvented an overlooked pocket of Shinagawa to create a new neighbourhood called Takanawa Gateway City. Architect Kengo Kuma has contributed the swirly Museum of Narratives.

The sharp increase in tourism has, however, had an impact on life in Tokyo, with visitors now popping up in the quietest corners of the city. While Tokyo’s population has become noticeably more diverse, there have been attendant challenges for residents. The rise in the cost of living has hit Japan’s citizens and, with the yen at historic lows, fewer are travelling overseas.

Kindness abounds in daily interactions and in a hospitality culture that tugs at the heartstrings. Tokyo should celebrate being such a well-mannered metropolis but its exemplary conduct is never taken for granted. Three (quiet) cheers for this exhilarating city.

View Monocle’s complete city guide to Tokyo

*In Monocle’s print edition, airport statistics were taken from the Winter schedule. The digital version has been updated June 20th 2026 to include the Summer schedule.

First-time visitors to Vienna might find the notion that it has a “museum quarter” confusing. After all, the Austrian capital has several cultural clusters, all within easy reach of each other. Isn’t the city as a whole something of a living museum? But the designation belongs to a specific place: the MuseumsQuartier (MQ), which opened 25 years ago this month.

A former imperial stables and trade-fair site, the MQ is now one of Europe’s finest examples of a happy union between culture and public space. Other cities would do well to take note. First, there’s the sheer range of what’s on offer: the Leopold Museum for fin-de-siècle painting and design, Mumok for contemporary art, the Architekturzentrum for architecture and urbanism, and Zoom Kindermuseum, an interactive children’s centre. These are just a small fraction of the 61 venues in the quarter.

Second, the MQ and its institutions were pioneers of establishing a recognisable visual identity and occasionally making a bold gesture, such as the uncensored posters for the Leopold Museum’s 2012 exhibition on representations of nude men, which made international headlines. Third, the MQ is not merely about the “M”. Its vast courtyards form an expansive public space that’s freely accessible throughout the day. Indeed, many visitors to the area don’t enter a museum at all. For them, the MQ is somewhere to while away an afternoon with a book or a drink; it’s a place where children can run loose. 

In winter it hosts one of Vienna’s more stylish Christmas markets. In the warmer months, concerts and readings take centre stage. The MQ functions as a park as much as a cultural complex – little wonder, then, that more greenery has been introduced in recent years.

Public opinion has shaped the MQ’s story from the outset. In the 1990s, when plans for the complex first emerged, opposition to a proposed high-rise tower within the grounds forced officials back to the drawing board. That same spirit of civic engagement endures in the annual online vote that determines the colour of the MQ’s trademark furniture, the Enzis. These modular benches are arguably the most inventive pieces of furniture to emerge from Austria since the mid-19th century, when Michael Thonet relocated his bentwood chair business from Germany. 

Owing to their shape and lightweight construction, the Enzis can be combined in all manner of configurations. This year’s colours are punch-cake pink and lemon yellow. Designed by PPAG architects for the MQ, the Enzis have since spread across Vienna and beyond, turning up on university campuses and in schools. 

Perhaps its most significant contribution has been less tangible. The MQ has helped to redefine what an inclusive public space can be in a city where, until the 1980s, sitting on the grass in public parks was forbidden. The quarter also encouraged a broader rethinking of urban life. Mariahilfer Strasse, Vienna’s principal shopping thoroughfare, begins at the edge of the MQ and is now hardly recognisable after pedestrianisation. The city’s many Grätzloasen – pocket-sized parklets occupying little more than a parking space – are indirectly part of the same story; so too is the continuing redesign of streets and squares, nudging residents towards cycling and using public transport. As it celebrates its first 25 years, the MQ is proof of Vienna’s long-held conviction that art and design belong at the centre of civic life.

Alexei Korolyov is Monocle’s Vienna correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today. And read The Monocle Minute tomorrow to see how Vienna ranks in our 2026 Quality of Life Survey.

Further reading:
Monocle’s complete city guide to Vienna

The spring/summer 2027 edition of Milan Fashion Week’s menswear edition delivered collections that offered something for every occasion, from the Americana-inflected vision of Ralph Lauren to the movement-ready clothes of former dancer Saul Nash. Beyond the runway, the city’s showrooms offer the opportunity to get up close to the designs and feel the quality of Italian manufacturing – namely made-in-Marche loafers and Florentine cashmere. Here are Monocle’s top-10 moments from the week.

1.
Saul Nash 

A former dancer, London-based Saul Nash has carved an appealing niche for himself in the menswear market, blending sportswear and tailoring while experimenting with innovative performance fabrics. Put simply, he offers clothes that enhance motion instead of restricting it. For spring/summer 2027, he continued exploring his “movement-based” design philosophy, looking at archival imagery of sports figures and pin-ups, and translating them into garments that were both functional and elegant: a raincoat cut like double-breasted trench; a suit jacket with an elasticated back nodding to fencing uniforms; and nylon twinsets in shades of burgundy and yellow. “Growing up in London, there was a unique story to be told around the men who wear sportswear and elevated perceptions around them –  I’m always fascinated with what we deem formal versus casual,” says Nash after dancing down the runway to take his bow. 

His growing presence in Milan over the past few years comes as a breath of fresh air to the city’s calendar, which is mostly dominated by longstanding brands. “Milan has been the first step to help me imagine what my brand looks like beyond technical wear, and look at [my expertise] through a lens of tailoring,” adds Nash.
saulnash.com

2.
Brioni

This season, Brioni’s in-house design team led the charge in the absence of a creative director (Austrian designer Norbert Stumpfl exited last December and has yet to be replaced). As is often the case when brands find themselves in an interim period, the instinct is to reaffirm house codes rather than rock the boat. At Brioni, this means a reinforcement of the label’s bespoke tailoring offerings with Brioni Maestria, a new project that aims to provide further opportunity for customisation. The label also looked to its Roman origins with a palette inspired by the city’s hues – eucalyptus green, faded reds and travertine beige to name a few – as well as the relaxed, unlined silhouettes favoured by residents of the Italian capital. Highlights from the collection include a butter-soft suede blazer and a jacket with pockets designed to hold a newspaper and a pen, as well as roomy weekender bags for city escapes. As the brand awaits its next chapter, its design team is guarding the core belief that good menswear revolves around functionality and high-quality fabrics but also keeping a sense of ease, alla Romana.
brioni.com

3.
Malo

Italian knitwear label Malo was founded in Florence in the 1970s by brothers Alfredo and Giacomo Canessa. From their Tuscan atelier, the duo created some of the world’s finest cashmere sweaters – and were among the first to offer coloured cashmere – but it struggled to keep up with market pressures in the 2010s. Now, it has been acquired by American investor David Glickman via his private-equity firm Glickman Capital and is being relaunched with an ambitious plan, which includes a new retail space on Milan’s Via della Spiga and a growing collection of knitwear, shirting and sharp outerwear.

Behind the new collections is longtime editor-turned-CEO Michelle Kessler-Sanders, who has successfully sprinkled a fresher, more fashion-forward touch to Malo’s signature cashmere offering – quickly turning the label into the one to watch in the Italian fashion capital.
malo.com 

4.
Dunhill

“I started the collection with a series of blue blazers, almost like a love letter,” said Dunhill’s creative director, Simon Holloway, at the brand’s Milan presentation. “There are three in these gorgeous bright colours, made in worsted cashmere, which is woven in Huddersfield. They’re styled with silk-cotton turtlenecks, very much inspired by a photograph of Roger Moore from the early 1970s.”

Since taking the reins in 2023, Holloway has been an unapologetic champion of British sartorial codes, delving into Dunhill’s 133-year strong archive for inspiration. (This season, for example, a vintage lighter with a playing-card motif is echoed on smoking jackets, robes and velvet slippers.) There’s an overt touch of James Bond this season, with eight-button navy blazers mingling with speedboat-ready linen shirts and belts made of rope. Elsewhere, the influence of the British painter Lucian Freud can be seen in the way a cashmere-silk scarf is worn with a pale-grey linen suit. “It reminds me of how he wore scarves as an alternative to a tie,” says Holloway. “There’s a loose tie knot in the way that he did it, which is quite charming.” Rich in references and reverence for the brand, Holloway is reviving the Dunhill universe for a contemporary consumer.
dunhill.com

5.
Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren brought his trademark American prep to Milan, staging a two-collection show at his brand’s sprawling palazzo on Via San Barnaba. Up first was the designer’s formalwear-focused Purple Label with a series of silk-blend beige and pinstripe suits, paired with sunglasses and the occasional beret, as well as reversible leather jackets and open-weave linen knitwear. A limited-edition series, made in collaboration with Japanese design house Kuon, included indigo-hued longline coats and blazers featuring sashiko embroidery and patchworks – a compelling case for more crossover of American and Japanese sensibilities. Then came the second act of the show: Polo Ralph Lauren. With classic collegiate pieces (namely varsity jackets, polo shirts and baseball caps), models evoked the halcyon days of tertiary education with silk ties worn as belts, argyle jumpers tied around shoulders and oversized totes filled with bouquets. Ultimately, this two-part presentation encapsulates Ralph Lauren’s kaleidoscopic, romantic vision of the modern-day American man – one that might involve a summer day spent at a Hamptons beach before a more formal occasion in the evening that calls for a suit. Traditional in many ways but not overly wedded to formality, such is the American brand’s recipe for success.
ralphlauren.com

6.
Prada

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons stripped things back for their latest collection, starting with the transparent runway set: the art deco carpets of previous seasons were replaced by fluorescent white tubes, glass and concrete columns. The opening look consisted of a white denim set with a classic black blazer layered over it. Denim, after all, is the most universal of garments, adopted by sailors and workers long before it became a fashion item, as Prada pointed out. The collection moved onto shrunken white denim trousers paired with simple white T-shirts or V-neck sweatshirts, along with skinny pinstripe or leather suits that recalled Hedi Slimane’s heyday at Dior Homme. It’s not a silhouette that can be pulled off easily but the label’s customers will still find plenty of items to shop, including patterned jacquard knits and mini nylon bags hanging from models’ oversized leather belts. 

Beyond the product, Prada and Simons pose interesting questions around their decision to offer a pared-back look and “break with the conventions of luxury,” as they put it. Is it time to rethink what constitutes luxury and investment-worthy design? Their latest collection, a statement “against exaggeration, against complex materials, against useless design”, suggests so.
prada.com

7.
Santoni

Judging by the number of bright orange bags spotted around Quadrilatero della Moda, Milan’s high-end shopping area, Santoni has something of a cult following. The Italian luxury brand that specialises in handmade shoes and leather accessories rarely strays from what it does best – loafers, sneakers and bags executed to the highest level of Italian craft, using premium leather. 

For its spring/summer 2027 line-up, Santoni is presenting new ways to personalise its Carlo loafers with a series of interchangeable tassels that can be added to the saddle of the shoe. Another highlight of the new collection is the continued exploration of its intrecci and serpentine methods of handweaving leather strips to introduce texture across footwear and weekender bags. Ultimately, the enduring popularity of Santoni lies in the brand’s willingness to hone in on manufacturing techniques while gently evolving the styles of shoes, ensuring continued relevance for a contemporary audience.
santonishoes.com 

8.
Church’s

For spring/summer 2027, British shoe brand Church’s is seeking a sense of intimacy. Its presentation, “The Residence”, was a domestic framing of the Prada Group-owned house’s three men’s product families: Townhouse, Cottage and Villa. As a trio, these shoes cover a range of needs for a summer spent moving from a city to a countryside escape, from daytime to more formal evening events. Collection standouts include the Thirsk brogue, with its discreetly perforated leather, as well as the more relaxed profiles of the Tilford loafer and the Jason slipper. 

Alongside next season’s novelties, vintage shoes from the brand’s 150-plus-year archive were on display to create a dialogue between past styles and how they’ve evolved to meet modern needs. It was a fitting touch as the British house is currently formalising its rich history through its Church’s Chapters project, which includes an installation currently being shown at its Northampton headquarters.
church-footwear.com

9.
Thom Browne 

Thom Browne made his name with signature gray suits – the trousers are always two or three inches above the ankles, the jackets’ sleeves are intentionally short and often feature four horizontal white stripes. But more recently, under the stewardship of the Zegna group, the designer has been broadening his scope. For his spring/summer 2027 menswear collection, presented in Milan for the first time, he offered variations of his famous suits (some were updated with kilts and bermuda trousers) but also added to the look: elegant straw hats, weekender bags in sturdy canvas, workwear-inspired jackets and bright green trench coats. He added a sense of romance and whimsy – something often missing from most menswear presentations – with bee and floral motifs that were embroidered on outerwear and accessories. 

As the brand continues to expand internationally, Browne has been able to strike a rare balance: staying true to his original vision and experimental spirit while also introducing new items and speaking to a wider audience. Gildo Zegna, who acquired a majority stake in the New York label in 2018, will no doubt be pleased.
thombrowne.com 

10.
Giorgio Armani

Giorgio Armani closed this season’s Milan Fashion Week Men’s with a show at Palazzo Orsini in Brera. As usual the label hasn’t followed popular trends, which have lately been favouring extra-slim silhouettes and brighter colour palettes, and instead doubling down instead on the signatures that the late Giorgio Armani relied on for so many years. A neutral palette of navy, gray and earthy hues paired with collarless jackets and lightweight silk trousers that evoke a sense of Mediterranean ease. There were also more playful touches in the form of accessories, from brooches on suit lapels to woven bucket hats that added a more laid-back feeling to the summer ensembles. The collection was pure Armani – a testament to the late designer’s clear vision for sunny Mediterranean living, having spent many of his summers in perfectly cut shorts and airy linens at his homes in St Tropez and Pantelleria. 

Leo Dell’Orco and Silvana Armani have been steering the brand with grace since Armani’s passing last year, yet the question that remains is: how long until the need for a more definitive leader with a vision of their own becomes necessary? 
giorgioarmani.com

There is something theatrical about the flame tree. As temperatures rise across Dubai and much of the Gulf retreats indoors, the city’s Delonix regia trees respond by doing precisely the opposite. Their broad green canopies erupt into brilliant orange-red blooms, setting roadsides, parks and waterfront promenades ablaze. It’s oddly defiant. Just as summer begins, nature stages its most spectacular performance.

It is this contradiction that sits at the heart of Dubai’s newly launched Flame Tree Season. In a city better known for skyscrapers than colourful canopies, the initiative encourages residents to notice a phenomenon that has been occurring here for decades. And it asks another question too: can Dubai create its own version of Japan’s sakura (cherry blossom) season?

Like Japan’s cherry blossoms, the flame-tree bloom is fleeting, seasonal and photogenic. This year special menus have appeared in cafés, brands have created limited-edition products and social media is full of photographs of blossoms against urban backdrops. Yet Dubai’s version is unmistakably its own. Rather than emerging from centuries of folklore, Flame Tree Season began with a question posed to Dubai Design Lab, a part of Dubai Future Foundation: if Dubai were to have a flower season, what would it be?

“We discovered that the flame tree has been planted in Dubai since the 1970s, with more than 50,000 existing in the landscape,” says Rafia Bin Sulaiman, associate manager and design researcher at Dubai Design Lab. “We thought, if we have something as beautiful as this surrounding us but few people are appreciating its beauty, what if we came up with a story and a narrative that complements this tree?” 

Originally from Madagascar, the tree has become embedded in the city’s landscape. It thrives in the Gulf climate, grows rapidly and creates a canopy that can lower surface temperatures beneath it by as much as 5C. Tens of thousands have been planted across the emirate. Trees frame the Burj Khalifa, line quiet waterfront promenades and scatter orange petals across pavements like confetti. 

For Bin Sulaiman, the tree mirrors Dubai. “It comes from a faraway place but it found its belonging in Dubai like many people that live here today,” she says. “This tree also signifies resilience because it starts to bloom when heat hits.” That symbolism feels particularly resonant. While much of the region has spent most of this year navigating uncertainty and conflict, the flame tree has arrived as an unexpectedly optimistic symbol.

What makes Flame Tree Season interesting is that it is evolving beyond a government initiative. More than 235 brand collaborations have emerged and according to Bin Sulaiman, much of that participation has happened spontaneously. “We thought this year we’ll just test it,” she says. “How do people like it? How does it resonate? So we started it but the idea has grown organically.”

And yet, this is where the comparison with Japan diverges. Cherry-blossom season arrives at precisely the right moment. Spring weather draws people outdoors. Families gather beneath the trees, colleagues picnic in parks and entire neighbourhoods seem to reorganise themselves around the bloom. Dubai’s flame trees do the opposite. They flower just as the city begins its annual retreat indoors. By June, temperatures regularly exceed 40C. Residents try to stay in air-conditioned homes, offices, shopping centres and cars, or leave the country altogether. A canopy that lowers the temperature by 5C sounds impressive until one remembers that 45C becomes 40C – more comfortable perhaps but hardly picnic weather. The reality is that most people will experience the bloom through a windscreen. But perhaps that, too, says something about modern Dubai.

Flame Tree Season isn’t trying to be cherry-blossom season. But it does show Dubai’s ambition to create civic rituals. For decades, the emirate has excelled at constructing physical infrastructure and this is a welcome nod to the natural landscape.

What is certain is that the trees offer a different way of seeing Dubai. Their fiery canopies, contrast with the blue skyline rising in the distance, create a marker of the passage of time in a city that can feel like it only has one season.

It has been exactly 10 years since British voters chose to leave the EU. The result of that referendum swiftly destroyed the prime minister who called it, David Cameron; while the impossibilities of Brexit were also, to varying extents, the undoing of his four Conservative successors. In 2024, the same electorate awarded a thumping landslide to the Labour party of Keir Starmer, widely interpreted as a plea for stable, sensible, even tedious governance. 

Scarcely two years later, the British public has now decided, according to consistent polling, that they don’t want Starmer either. On Monday 22 June, Starmer announced that he would resign, joining a rapidly elongating line of people who couldn’t inhabit 10 Downing Street long enough to justify redecorating. In his wake, the next PM hopeful will almost certainly be Andy Burnham, who returned to the House of Commons last week after a nine-year stint as mayor of Greater Manchester.

To illustrate the disarray caused to British politics by Brexit, one simply needs to look at the six prime ministers before Cameron: the survey takes you all the way to 1974. That was the second premiership of Harold Wilson, a pipe-chewing Yorkshireman from Huddersfield who, by happy symmetry with Burnham’s imminent accession, was the UK’s most recent authentically northern prime minister. (In the British context, “northern” means specifically northern English, and therefore excludes Scottish-born Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and Margaret Thatcher, who was from Lincolnshire, which is just too far south to be considered properly Northern.)

It’s impossible to explain the appeal of Andy Burnham without explaining something of England’s north-south divide. Take a motorway heading upwards on the map from London and you will encounter signs reading simply and forbiddingly “The North”, understood to mean: “Here be if not monsters exactly, then whippets, flat caps and surliness.” In the opposite direction, “The South” has an invisible asterix attached to an understood footnote warning of braying toffs called Hugo and Arabella, milk that comes from things other than cows and glib insincerity. Southerners race horses; northerners pigeons. Two great British rock’n’roll rivalries – The Beatles vs The Rolling Stones, Oasis vs Blur – were projections of the north-south divide, the latter especially, pitching Oasis’s blokey Mancunian earnestness against Blur’s London art-school posturing. Oasis’s “Some Might Say” featured prominently in Burnham’s recent by-election campaign. 

Burnham has a history of trowelling on the northern schtick (a southerner would pay someone else to trowel their schtick on for them). During a previous campaign for the Labour leadership – he has fallen short twice before – Burnham was asked to name his favourite biscuit. He replied “I don’t have a sweet tooth and don’t eat biscuits. But give me a beer and chips and gravy any day,” a line which would have been groaned out of the Coronation Street writers’ room.

Burnham was born in Liverpool in 1970 (in the context of that city’s municipal divide, he is a Blue, which is to say he supports Everton Football Club, not Liverpool). Though his boosters will pitch him as a rugged, authentic outsider, Burnham is the very model of a career politician: parliamentary researcher, special adviser, Member of Parliament and holder of several ministerial and/or cabinet posts during the 2007 to 2010 premiership of Gordon Brown. After Labour lost power in 2010, Burnham assumed various shadow portfolios (Education, Health, the Home Office) before leaving parliament to run for the newly created role of mayor of Greater Manchester. He won it by a street, and was re-elected twice. The contrast with Starmer’s tanking approval rating grew unignorable, then irresistible.

As mayor, Burnham is generally regarded to have done well on public transport and the local economy, and on unabashedly amplifying the regional identity (the Burnhamite creed of complementary economic and social progress has become known as “Manchesterism”). He is an affable and able communicator, one of those rare politicians who has the knack of looking like he’s enjoying the work, and like he does not regard constituents as a baffling, querulous nuisance. 

Burnham has offered few clear lines on what kind of prime minister he hopes to be. He has spoken of a belief that Britain has been on the wrong path for 40 years, which seems a curious dismissal of the long period of Labour government (1997 to 2010) of which he was part. On foreign affairs, which consumed so much of Starmer’s attention, little is clear – though it would be surprising if much changed about the UK’s approach to Ukraine, the Middle East and China, or in its dogged insistence that it enjoys a “special relationship” with the US.

Burnham is, for the moment at least, merely the latest desperate response to what has become the default setting of the British electorate: “Whatever it is, I’m against it.”

Almost four decades after reunification, Berlin’s primary struggle remains reconciling its legacy as a divided city with the realities of being a modern metropolis. The German press has long labelled the city a “failed state” and it might be right – but Berliners haven’t lost hope. In fact, one group believes that reclaiming the city’s river for swimming could help to quell the tide of local tension. 

Jan and Tim Edler, brothers and founders of art and architecture studio Realities:United, first campaigned to lift the city’s ban on bathing in the Spree in 1998. Swimming in the inner-city section of the waterway was banned in 1925 because of industrial pollution. Following the Cold War and subsequent division of the city, much of the river ran through East Berlin, where the GDR treated swimming West Berliners as illegal border-crossers. 

“The river has become detached from the city and we need to rebuild that bond,” says Jan. They eventually established Flussbad Berlin, an NGO advocating to transform a 835-metre stretch of the Spree into a natural-water swimming area. It now boasts more than 500 members, who cite the city’s lack of cooling spaces as a reason for joining.

But this lack of swimming access reflects broader frustrations regarding access to civic infrastructure across the German capital. In recent years, Berlin has struggled with regulations and bureaucracy, a housing crisis and failing public transport. Urban development is also slow: the city’s new S15 railway line opened this month after significant delays and restorations to the Pergamon Museum have now entered their 14th year.

Protests have been driven by a desire to enrich the city’s quality of life and protect its public spaces. In 2014, Berliners forced a referendum that blocked any construction on the 300-hectare Tempelhofer Field, one of the largest inner-city open spaces in the world. In 2018, after two years of fierce local protests, Google dropped its plans to build a campus in the bohemian Kreuzberg district. And, in 2024, Tesla put its Gigafactory expansion in the Grünheide forest on hold. This year, Berliners are even opposing bids to host the Olympics in 2036, 2040 or 2044.

“It’s embarrassing,” says Jan. “Berlin has lost its ambition and it’s up to Berliners to act.” Volunteers at Flussbad Berlin developed a water-monitoring app and found that sanitation improvements have improved river safety, meaning that the Spree is now clean enough for swimming about 80 per cent of the time between May and October. The barrier to access, according to Jan, is political will: officials might allow bathing in the Spree during a potential Olympics but not at other times.

In protest of the swimming ban, the club’s members will dive into the Spree on the 20th of each month this year until the Berlin House of Representatives election in September. “Being in a river is a special feeling,” he says, “one that opens you up to ideas about caring for your city. Berliners are famous for being grumpy but in the water, it’s all smiles.”

Yegor Mostovshikov is a Berlin-based writer. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Thirty years ago, a new art biennale called Manifesta launched in Rotterdam. Most biennials root themselves in a single city to accrue cultural capital but Manifesta takes place across different European cities or regions every two years. Founded by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen in the 1990s, its nomadic format reflected the fluidity of the post-Cold War continent and the optimism of the young EU. 

Manifesta’s expansive exhibitions are organised and funded in collaboration with the hosting venue. The event’s early iterations prioritised connecting western and eastern Europe but as the continent’s geopolitics shifted, so did its mission.

“In the beginning we were still a [conventional] art biennale,” says Fijen. Later, Manifesta worked with politicians to define civic needs, while curatorial teams got involved early to tailor concepts to place and purpose.

Manifesta’s 2018 biennial reclaimed 20 long-neglected or mafia-compromised sites across Palermo, while in 2022, the event revived forgotten community hubs in Pristina, drawing the art world’s attention to Europe’s youngest capital city. At the time, Kosovo citizens were severely restricted from travelling to the EU (the EU Commission has since lifted the country’s visa restrictions; Fijen suspects that the international coverage of Manifesta contributed to the reversal). 

These examples matter now more than ever. Artists and activists at the 2026 Venice Biennale organised boycotts and protests over the inclusion of Russia and Israel in the event. Other fairs in Europe and beyond continue to prioritise the blue-chip art market rather than considering local audiences. “But many biennials are rethinking their basic model of operation,” says Fijen, who has come to see mega-exhibitions as incubators for urban ideas and new ways of bringing communities together, rather than showcases.

Manifesta’s approach is clearly catching on, with several hyperlocal events emerging in its wake. Take South Tyrol’s Biennale Gherdëina, which launched alongside Manifesta 7 in 2008 and just held its 10th edition. The show featured 24 artists, whose work pops up everywhere from mountain trails to village squares. Then there’s Climate Biennial: Art, Industry and Territory which takes place for the first time this year in Avilés, Spain, with 40 artists showcasing work across 11 venues (one of its founders worked on the Barcelona Manifesta). In an era of copycat biennials and heavy curatorial concepts, thematic local events increasingly resonate with both art lovers and professionals.

On 21 June this year, the event’s 16th edition will open in Ruhr, a post-industrial region in the northwest of Germany. Titled “This is not a church”, it shines a light on an economically fragile area, as well as the demographic changes that the Ruhr has undergone since its once-mighty coal mines began closing in the 1980s. During Manifesta’s early research, it became clear that a hidden issue facing the region was the increasing number of church closures. In postwar Germany, centres of faith served as community anchors but this has changed over the past several decades. The exhibition features the work of artists such as Mona Hatoum and Luc Tuymans alongside many others in 12 decommissioned churches. 

At this year’s Manifesta, there’s great art to see but the event will also help open local imaginations to what these buildings can become after the fair closes its doors in October. Here, ideas such as opening community gardens and indoor tennis courts are already brewing. “People want to come together and create new circumstances,” says Fijen. The question now is whether other biennials are willing or able to create the conditions that contribute to a place’s future, even after the art crowd has moved on. 
manifesta16.org

Since we launched The Monocle Quality of Life Survey in 2007, we have sought to show that what makes a city great is about more than just low-crime rates, economics and public-transport connections (though these factors do make a considerable difference). Markers of urban quality of life also include inhabitants and visitors feeling considered, easy access to green space, the ability to grab a decent meal after 22.00 and a sense of community.

The cities that have topped our rankings over the past 10 years share many of these qualities – some cities have topped the charts multiple times. As we look forward to the release of our 2026 Quality of Life Survey this week (order your magazine here), we’re looking back at the cities that came first-in-place and the ideas that helped them get there.

2025
Paris

“I can honestly say that there’s no city in the world in which I would rather live,” says Charles-Antoine Depardon, an architect and advisor on urban development to Paris’s city council, as he strolls through the Tuileries on his way to work at the Hôtel de Ville. “It is an extraordinary cocktail.”

Depardon might be biased but on a spring morning, as the French capital’s avenues resound to the click-clack of hard leather shoes on spruce concrete, it’s hard to argue with him. The 2024 Olympics provided Paris with the platform to showcase its chic contemporary self. The city delivered a rousing performance that also served as a fitting coda to a decade of revival under mayor Anne Hidalgo, whose ambitious (and sometimes controversial) urbanism interventions have made it cleaner, greener and safer, while maintaining and protecting the personality that give Paris its inimitable charm. The French capital in the 21st century looks a lot like it did in the 20th century but that’s a large part of the appeal. And today it is also a more international, outward-looking city than it has ever been.

Read more in our 2025 Quality of Life Survey, or buy the magazine issue here.

2024
Munich

Munich is perhaps Germany’s most attractive city. Since 2000, the populations of Berlin, Hamburg, Köln and Frankfurt have grown by about 15 per cent – but Munich’s has risen by almost a third. One reason is the city’s economic and intellectual draw. Of Germany’s 40 largest companies, seven hail from Munich. This has probably contributed to its status as Germany’s most expensive city. But talent is nurtured here. In December 2024, the city set aside an extra €668m for building and renovating nurseries, pre-schools and schools; with a total budget of €8.4bn since its inception in 2011, it’s Germany’s largest such scheme. On the other end of the academic ladder, the Technical University of Munich and LMU München are two of the country’s top universities. The city’s proportion of employees with an academic degree is 41 per cent, also Germany’s highest.

Munich is also the country’s best city for a healthy lifestyle. In an EU ranking of 38 German regions by life expectancy, Upper Bavaria, home to Munich, came first with 82.3 years. One explanation is the city’s access to nature: pristine environs, the river Isar and parks such as the Englischer Garten. New leisure facilities have opened too. Among them is Kunstkraftwerk Bergson, a power station converted into an arts venue. Last year, the city nearly tripled its newly installed solar power capacity with a scheme that supports small panels on private balconies. Munich’s future looks sunny. A worthy winner. 

Read more in our Quality of Life Survey 2024, or buy the issue of the magazine here.  

2023
Vienna 

With Vienna’s stunning baroque architecture and refurbished parliament building, it’s easy to forget its natural beauty. But there are hills, lakes and rivers within the city limits. As the sun returns, so do the Viennese – to the water. Danube Island is a popular spot, as are public swimming areas such as the Gänsehäufel on the Alte Donau.

Meanwhile, museums have been celebrating the 150th anniversary of the event that turned the city into a global metropolis: the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair. Though it was a financial disaster, it rekindled European interest in Japanese and Middle Eastern arts and crafts, which in turn inspired Viennese artists such as Gustav Klimt.

City authorities have pressed on with their plan to build more social housing, while crime is at its lowest rate in 20 years. A network of community-run parklets known as Grätzloasen, set up by former deputy mayor Maria Vassilakou, has continued to expand into neighbourhoods devoid of public space. Vienna’s excellent transport system is seeing two more additions, both produced by Siemens, whose factory is located within the city: driverless X-Wagen trains for the Vienna U-Bahn and new Nightjet sleeper trains for Austria’s national railway operator, ÖBB. Construction has continued on the new U5 U-Bahn line, though the planned reopening of a section of the U2 line has been delayed until next year. But even without it, Vienna has an embarrassment of transport riches. 

Read more in our Quality of Life Survey 2023, or buy the issue of the magazine here. 

2022
Copenhagen

Copenhagen’s decision to gear its city planning towards cyclists and pedestrians has resulted in cleaner air and reduced congestion, and has helped to improve the health and wellbeing of its residents. But there’s always more ground to cover: Nordic weather also demands a public transport system for days when the sleet feels like needles. So the Copenhagen Metro is still expanding, connecting previously distant neighbourhoods.

And the C-word? It’s as if the dreaded virus never happened. The Danish capital’s residents reverted to normality without a fuss, which reflects the sense of collective responsibility and togetherness that the city has fostered. Great new restaurants are opening almost every week (most have moved beyond the New Nordic dogma), culture has never been more vibrant and the economy is booming.

The city also scores well on safety, runs smoothly and has a generous welfare system and support for new parents (though inequality is nudging up). The whole country is under­taking the move towards carbon neutrality by 2050 but there are shorter-term advantages to living here – the proximity of the harbour for a lunchtime swim, for one.

Buy our 2022 Quality of Life magazine issue here.

2021
Copenhagen

In 2021, the global media picked up on the Danish word samfunssind, which roughly translates as “society-minded” and conveys a sense of pride in social cohesion. Copenhageners demonstrate their samfunssind in the way that they ensure their city is a place where children can roam free, is accessible to those on lower incomes and has efficient public transport, better air quality and a harbour that’s clean enough to swim in.

Yet without the tourists, it seems that Copenhageners are falling in love with their city once again. With its well-preserved cobbled squares, copper-spired beauty, green spaces, ample waterfronts, independent retail scene and a still-expanding choice of restaurants, the Danish capital excels. The new Metro ring has made it easier to access all parts of the city, and the Refshaleøen district is particularly appealing these days due to the presence of the Copenhagen Contemporary art museum and an eclectic range of dining options. 

Buy our 2021 Quality of Life magazine issue here.

2020
We took a break.

2019
Zürich

Zürich is a city that gives you the feeling that all is right with the world. It starts at the airport, where you will encounter few queues at customs and a punctual train that delivers you from arrivals to the city centre in minutes. You’ll step out onto neatly swept streets lined with well-appointed shops – and in the distance catch a glimpse of the snow-capped Alps beyond the turquoise blue of Lake Zürich. 

The Swiss city of more than 400,000 people often resembles a picture postcard – especially in the summer, when the crystal-clear water is busy with swimmers and sailing boats. 

Though the streets are filled with Ferraris and Teslas – the city is Switzerland’s banking capital, after all – more people ride around on bikes or take trams and ferries to get from A to B. Zürich is walkable and environmentally friendly: it’s on its way to becoming carbon neutral and aims to be a 2,000-watt society by 2050, meaning each person will limit their energy consumption to 2,000 watts per year. To encourage cycling, a few more bike paths to make everyone feel safe enough to hop on the saddle are in the works.

2018
Munich

Munich might boast some of Germany’s steepest property prices but the rewards of living here are just as high: this city uniquely combines excellent infrastructure with a booming economy, proximity to nature with appreciation for culture and a strong local identity with a welcoming cosmopolitanism. And, lest we forget, its airport is a joy to behold.

Let’s start with infrastructure. People sometimes call Munich “Italy’s northernmost city” but that’s only true if by Italy you mean South Tyrol. While other southern European cities’ public transport systems fester and decay, in Munich the system is so slick and universally embraced that on the U-Bahn you are just as likely to sit next to a dignified elderly woman in an ankle-length fur coat and a YSL bag as you are a student engrossed in their phone screen. Most of its 18 public swimming pools, 10 of which have a sauna, wouldn’t feel out of place at a top-notch private gym. The same goes for the showers at the airport.

The strong economy also attracts talent from all over the world. People often think of Berlin as Germany’s cosmopolitan city but with a foreign population of about 28 per cent, Munich is actually more so.

2017
Tokyo

Living in Japan can sometimes feel like inhabiting a very safe, impossibly polite bubble, detached from the strife, intolerance and ugly rhetoric that seem to be so prevalent in many parts of the world. Of course, other places are not always so bad and Japan is not perfect but, as far as large-scale cities go, Tokyo has got urban living down to a fine art. Primary school children walk to school unaccompanied as a matter of course and the streets are safe, even at night. Good service is expected and received in every situation. In fact, the level of civility is so universal, and everyone so attuned to it, that any deviation from acceptable standards – a mildly sullen waiter or inattentive shop staff – causes disproportionate outrage.

The overwhelming sense is that people go out of their way not to bother others. Disturbing fellow subway passengers with a booming conversation just wouldn’t be on and you can almost feel the collective horror should someone start eating a pungent burger or put their shoes on a seat. If it sounds exhausting, it really isn’t. The awareness of not imposing one’s presence on others is absorbed from childhood and internalised to the point where it becomes instinctive. There’s an unspoken agreement among Tokyo’s citizens that whatever the situation – a crowded train, a busy bus or an airport-security queue – it will all be much easier if everyone thinks of others and not just themselves.

2016
Tokyo

Where other cities talk a good game about being 24/7, Tokyo delivers – and not just on the singing and drinking front. As city mayors plot ways to entice talent and investment while also offering up strategies for a superior quality of life, the city’s round-the-clock economy is a key feature that makes it one of the most attractive places to live and visit. With a conveniently located international airport that operates 24 hours a day, bookshops that open at 07.00 and close at 04.00, and restaurants and shops that never close, Tokyo recognises the pull of being open all hours. Other hubs should take note. As we often say on our editorial floor, if you don’t like bright lights and buzz there’s a lovely place to move called the countryside.

We’ll see you for the release of our 2026 Quality of Life Survey this Thursday 25 June – order your magazine here

1.
Thailand: The Monocle Handbook

The sixth installment in Monocle’s Handbook series takes you across Thailand’s stunning scenery. From mountainous Chiang Rai all the way down to tropical Phuket, we head to wellness retreats, restaurants serving fresh takes on traditional dishes, national parks, temples and envelope-pushing culture hubs to show you why this sunny nation remains the stuff of holiday dreams. Plus, if you’re interested in a permanent relocation there, we spotlight the neighbourhoods and islands where you can make a home and profile the architects and designers to commission for the job. So pack your bags and experience this special corner of Southeast Asia afresh. 

Buy a copy here

2.
Greece: The Monocle Handbook

Making time for a weekend trip to the Hellenic world or planning to stay a little longer?  We present our most treasured recommendations across the country, from rural tavernas to island retreats and Arcadian ski slopes. We’ve also scoured the country for its most skilled artisans, so take a trip and dive into our guide to Greek fashion, food and design. Plus: for those looking to put down roots we reveal the places to set up a home, the clubs to join and the architects to consult. It’s time to explore this ancient country afresh.

Buy a copy here

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3.
France: The Monocle Handbook

Allow us to take you on a tour of our most cherished Gallic spots. We have traversed the mainland to scout out the creme de la creme of the nation’s bounty.

Come with us to Marseille and Montpellier, Biarritz and Brittany, with stop-offs in the Alps and along the rugged coast of Corsica. Break bread at both new and established bistros, visit luxury ateliers with a discerning eye for design and check in to Paris’s most storied hotels and metropolitan boltholes. Plus: we toast the nation’s vineyards, the cultural spots honouring France’s artistic heritage and the plucky retailers setting up shop in the country’s second cities. Fancy staying a while longer? We’ll take you through the places in which to linger, should you wish to put down roots. France is the world’s most visited country, and for good reason.

Buy a copy here

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4.
Portugal: The Monocle Handbook

A practical guide that will introduce you to the best the country has to offer as we present our favourite spots across the country. We’ve travelled from north to south (via the islands) to find innovative retailers and traditional ateliers, the chefs turning out the tastiest dishes and the sleekest hotels – not to mention undiscovered beaches and world-leading cultural venues. We even reveal the best neighbourhoods to invest in should you wish to put down roots in this sunny nation, plus the plucky entrepreneurs who’ve already made the move. It’s time to pack your bags for Portugal.

Buy a copy here

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5.
Spain: The Monocle Handbook

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6.
Swim & Sun

Here you’ll find our pick of the places in which to cool off when the mercury rises and plenty to get you dreaming about your next dip. We celebrate the joys of diving into the ocean, leaping into a river and allowing your limbs to stretch – and your mind to clear – as you simply swim. In its visually stunning pages, the guide celebrates the sunny pleasures on offer at our favourite beach clubs, urban pools and lakeside bathing spots. Pick up a copy and jump in. The water’s perfect.

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The recent upheaval at 60 Minutes – the US’s longest-running news programme, which airs on Sunday evenings on CBS – amounts to a straightforward political story. In October 2024, Donald Trump, who had long characterised much of the mainstream media as an “enemy of the American people”, sued the network over a pre-election interview with Kamala Harris on the show that, he alleged, had been edited to make her look better. He demanded $10bn (€8.7bn) in damages and called for CBS to be stripped of its licence. In July 2025, in an attempt to appease the president and usher in new, deep-pocketed owners, CBS’s parent company, Paramount, agreed to a $16m (€14m) settlement. A new senior editorial team was installed soon afterwards. Helmed by columnist and TV news novice Bari Weiss, the change has steered 60 Minutes towards more White House-friendly territory.

Cue the unceremonious firing of long-serving senior staff; the decision to allow Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to cherry-pick his interviewer; and the showdown between incoming executive producer, Nick Bilton (also a TV newbie) and seasoned correspondent Scott Pelley, which led to the latter’s firing by email.

Yet this almost 60-year-old show, with a format hardly tinkered with until now, is still the most-watched news programme in the US. And its audience still seems to be growing. It has forged a reputation as television journalism’s north star for good reason. Within the parameters of its famous format – the motif of a ticking stop-clock, the scripted segment introductions – 60 Minutes has continued to reshape the idea of how to report the news on TV and which stories to tell. Nielsen, the ratings-tracking agency, reported that the number of viewers tuning in had increased by 9 per cent over the past year.
 
“It’s a very old-fashioned formula,” the programme’s then executive producer, Bill Owens, told me in Toronto in 2023. (Owens resigned in April 2025, citing concerns over editorial meddling in the output of 60 Minutes under Weiss’s stewardship of CBS News.) “It hasn’t changed at all over 55 years,” he added. “We’ve profiled everyone from Beyoncé to Bruce Springsteen. Actors, thieves, poets – you name them. People scream and curse at us from the right and the left. We like it that way. That’s why we remain important in the lives of American news audiences. It’s part of the fabric.”

Well-established news formats have an advantage over newer ones when it comes to their relationships with audiences: trust. The assumption that a long-standing title, particularly if it’s still popular, must be reinvented just because it is old couldn’t be lazier. A newsroom is only as strong as its bond with its viewers. Once that’s lost, it’s difficult to get it back.

Yes, audiences are changing. Owens acknowledged this. “It’s challenging,” he said. “We’ve also lost share of the audience but that’s because the entire broadcast television audience has gotten smaller. Where we have seen dramatic gains are on our digital platform and our Youtube numbers have doubled this year. If people are still getting the quality journalism that 60 Minutes has been bringing people for more than five decades, they’ll continue to tune in.” 
 
But changing tastes need to be catered to carefully, particularly in a news ecosystem where information, often of dubious origin, is more readily available than ever. Under its new management, the clock appears to be ticking on one of the US’s most successful and lucrative news formats. It would be a mistake to let it stop entirely.

Tomos Lewis is Monocle’s Toronto correspondent. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.