Manchester named in 100 Best Cities list worldwide - here is where we rank

This year’s World’s Best Cities report is the second edition that combines Ipsos research on the perceived desirability of places to visit, work, and live, with the analysis by Resonance of the various factors that drive place performance.

Manchester took the 69th spot for our creative and economic rebirth.

The report said: “The historic engine of English industry – and UNESCO City of Literature – is shifting into high gear across both culture and development. The 2024 opening of the 23,500-seat Co-op Live arena, the largest indoor arena in Europe, attracted one million fans in less than a year, and earned kudos as the Top UK Concert Venue and winner of a Greener Arena award. Watch the Theaters and Concerts ranking (a middling #60) climb the charts. Urban reinvention is afoot with a newly centralized “single pipeline for growth” now coordinating more than $1.2 billion of planned annual investment across six Growth Locations.

“Among the boldest is the regeneration of Old Trafford around Manchester United’s stadium, projected to create thousands of homes, over 90,000 jobs and a 100,000-seat Norman Foster-designed stadium. Victoria North, the $5.5-billion, 15,000-home redevelopment north of the city center, will bring new communities in phased delivery from 2027.

“Manchester’s $100-billion economy, up 50% since 2000, now leads the nation in FDI outside London. Tech and life sciences are driving new investment into the Oxford Road Corridor, with Bruntwood SciTech’s 2025 expansion adding flexible lab and office space and building on a respectable #35 ranking for Economic Output. Meanwhile, Manchester Airport’s $1.7-billion terminal overhaul cements its #12 ranking for global connectivity.”