Sure, a city can have stunning galleries or brilliant food, but arguably the factor that will affect your experience the most are your interactions with its people – and there’s a good chance that they’ll be a whole lot friendlier if you’re in a happy city.
To shed some light on where that actually might be, the Happy City Index is back for its sixth edition, and hubs across the planet have been assessed on their citizens, governance, environment, economy, health and mobility, and slotted into either the ‘gold’ ‘silver’ or ‘bronze’ category.
Topping the ranks in the ‘gold’ category and earning the title of the happiest city on the planet? That would be Copenhagen.
The Danish capital acquired a total of 1039 points, faring particularly well thanks to its ‘commitment to education and innovation’, a ‘strong learning culture’, ‘dedication to research and development’ and an ‘active and participatory democracy’.
Heard of ‘hygge’? It’s a Danish concept which the country’s official website describes as being ‘about taking time away from the daily rush to be together with people you care about – or even by yourself – to relax and enjoy life’s quieter pleasures’. This way of life has a lot to do with why Copenhagen’s population is so cheerful.
A couple of examples include enjoying a picnic in the summer months or curling up next to a fire – wholesome, right? To learn more, you can head to Copenhagen’s Happiness Museum (yes, really).
Last year, representatives of the Greater Copenhagen Region launched a ‘life quality insurance’ campaign, which essentially guaranteed that you would feel happier after moving to Copenhagen – and if not, they’d help cover you moving home again. Read more about that here.
In second place was Zurich which scored 993, and in third place was Singapore with 979. Read on for the full top 20 – where 15 entries are European – or have a look at the complete list on the Happy City Index here.
These are the world’s happiest cities
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Singapore
- Aarhus, Denmark
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Seoul, South Korea
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Taipei, Taiwan
- Munich, Germany
- Rotterdam, Netherlands
- Vancouver, Canada
- Vienna, Austria
- Paris, France
- Helsinki, Finland
- Aalborg, Denmark
- Berlin, Germany
- New York, USA
- Dresden, Germany
- Brussels, Belgium
- Geneva, Switzerland
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