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Hamburg takes crown as Germans’ fave city

Friendly citizens and a beautiful skyline made Hamburg the city that Germans most want to move to in 2015, according to a recent survey.

Published: 11 September 2015 11:40 CEST
Hamburg takes crown as Germans' fave city
Fireworks explode over the Hamburg skyline during New Year celebrations in January. Photo: DPA

The “city brand” (Stadtmarken-Monitor) survey of 5,000 people by branding consultancy Brandmeyer showed Hamburg edging ahead of Munich to take the top spot in public perception.

Pollsters asked ordinary people a range of questions covering what they thought of the city's reputation, quality of life, uniqueness, and how likely they would be to live there, visit, or recommend that a friend move there.

In the weighted results, the northern port city scored 7.9 points compared with an average of 5.9 for the 49 largest cities in the country, followed closely by Munich (7.3), Cologne (7.2), Dresden (7.1) and Freiburg im Breisgau (7.1).

And it was a favourite among all the age groups surveyed – under-29s, 30- to 49-year-olds and the over-50s.

Berlin seems to be losing its cool edge as a party city, placing just fifth among the under-29s but second in the 30 to 49 age range. In the overall rankings, the capital fell from third place in 2010 to now sixth place.

Meanwhile, south-westerly Freiburg im Breisgau – one of two top-ten cities with fewer than 250,000 inhabitants – came up top in the family-friendliness stakes, beating out Dresden, Augsburg, Hamburg and Münster.

Hamburg was seen as the friendliest city and was the place people said they were most likely to move to – although Munich continues to be the city seen as having the best reputation and highest quality of life.

And the Bavarian capital continues to rule the roost in perceptions of economic power, with the top five rounded out by Hamburg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Cologne.

There were no surprises in the beauty stakes either, with Dresden – the Saxon capital renowned for its many finely restored historic buildings strung along the Elbe river – tying with Munich and Hamburg for first place.

Pretty cities: Hamburg town hall and the Elbe river (l), the Dresden Semperoper opera house (m), and people dining al fresco in the gardens outside the Munich state court (r). Photos: DPA

Meanwhile, the bottom of the overall leaderboard was almost exclusively made up of cities in the densely-populated Rhine-Ruhr region of North Rhine-Westphalia, including Duisburg, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, Hagen and Bochum.

That might be because of those cities' low ratings in perceived quality of life among the survey respondents, with each of the cities scoring well below the average.

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QUALITY OF LIFE

‘Pleasantly constant’: Why Switzerland ranks as the ‘world’s best country’ — again

For the sixth time, Switzerland wins the coveted title of the world’s top country in an international ranking. Why does the nation make it to the no.1 spot —time after time?

Published: 6 September 2023 11:31 CEST
'Pleasantly constant': Why Switzerland ranks as the 'world’s best country' — again

It’s official: Switzerland has been ranked ahead of 87 other countries analysed by the US News & World Report for its 2023 ranking, which was released on Wednesday morning. 

It is the sixth time that Switzerland tops the rankings, which measure a country’s global performance based on 73 categories. They include entrepreneurship; quality of life; adaptability and progress; social purpose; and other attributes listed here. 

What exactly makes Switzerland the best in the world?

The country “snags the top spot for business-friendliness and education, “and ranks in the top 10 for quality of life, social purpose and cultural influence,” according to study authors. “Among attributes, it was considered No.1 for being economically stable, safe and least corrupt.”

“And while people may not see it as the sexiest place, they would like to live there.”

One of Switzerland’s top qualities, the study showed, is ‘consistency.’

Unlike the political and economic volatility of many other countries, “there is something pleasantly constant about Switzerland,” the survey found.

It is true that change of any kind is slow to come here.

Part of the reason for this sluggishness is cultural: the Swiss don’t like spontaneity (unless it’s planned) or doing anything on a whim. 

They believe that rushing things and making hasty decisions will have disastrous results, which is why they prefer to take a cautious — even if painstakingly slow — path.

As a general rule, the Swiss have a penchant not only for planning, but for pre-planning as well. They like to thoroughly examine each aspect of a proposed change and look at it from all possible angles.

Another reason (besides the cultural one mentioned above) contributes to Switzerland’s notorious slowness in decision-making — the country’s political system.

Due to Switzerland’s decentralised form of government, the Federal Council must consult with cantons before a decision can be made at the national level.

That, as you can imagine, could take a while as each of the 26 cantons may drag their individual feet, and there could be no consensus among them.

READ ALSO : Why are things so slow to change in Switzerland? 

While some may see this ‘consistency’ as a negative, the US News & World Report considers it to be a definite plus.

How did Switzerland rank in major categories?

‘Open for business’

In this category, the country is in the first place (100 points out of 100).

Simply, this means  the country  is ‘business friendly’ because the government has created a good environment for businesses to thrive. 

“Switzerland has low unemployment, a skilled labour force and one of the highest gross domestic products per capita in the world,” the report relates. 

‘Educated population’

Here, too, Switzerland excels (100 points, first place).

Switzerland not only has an excellent and accessible education system, but according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), well over 80 percent of the country’s population have an upper secondary education or above.

This proportion is higher than the OECD average of 75 percent.

READ ALSO: How can foreigners get into a Swiss university?

‘Quality of life’

Here, Switzerland also got a high score ( 96.7), which places it in the fourth place.

This particular category, which includes essentials such as broad access to food, housing, quality education, healthcare, and employment, also comprises “intangibles such as job security, political stability, individual freedom and environmental quality.”

This is not exactly a surprise, as Switzerland often ranks highly in this category in other international surveys as well. 

In which categories does Switzerland rate poorly?

‘Power’

Switzerland’s score here is 26, which lands it in the 20th place.

But this is actually good news, if you consider criteria for this category:

“The world’s most powerful countries also are the ones that consistently dominate news headlines, preoccupy policymakers and shape global economic patterns. Their foreign policies and military budgets are tracked religiously.”

Needless to say, Switzerland has no interest in wielding global power.

Besides (unintentionally) invading neighbouring Liechtenstein on three occasions, Switzerland is not at all power-hungry.

This is not only because it is neutral, but also because its politics is based on peaceful coexistence.

(The number 1 spot in this category was snagged, not surprisingly, by the United States).

‘Movers’

This too is not a major surprise, since the sub-category here is ‘dynamic’, for which Switzerland was given a low score of 29.1.

The country did a bit better in the ‘distinctive’ and ‘unique’ sub-category, with scores of 43.5 and 42.1, respectively.

Overall, Switzerland is in the 26th place.

You can see details of each category here.

What is the Swiss reaction to the report?

Overwhelmingly positive, of course.

“What people love about us is our reliability and our predictability,” said Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the U.S.

“With us, you know what you get, which is rare nowadays,” Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, a government agency that promotes the country abroad, pointed out.

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