The City of Gold has been ranked the second most inspiring city in the world – just a month after retaining its title as Africa’s most visited city.
In a study conducted by the global publication, Good Magazine, Johannesburg scored the highest points in all categories used to rank cities for the magazine’s Good City Index.
The categories included Hub of Progress, City Engagement, Street Life, Defining Moments, Connectivity, Green Life, Diversity and Work Life Balance.
Joahnneburg was one of only three African cities, including Nairobi ranked fifth, and Dakar ranked ninth, featured in the magazine’s top 20 list.
The results were based on data obtained by the magazine’s editors and sourced from a network of global correspondents.
The magazine’s editors described the Good City Index as “a celebration of the 50 cities around the world that best capture the elusive quality of possibility”.
“Indeed, this is a humbling accolade. Particularly because it comes less than a month after the 2014 MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index announced us, the city of Johannesburg, as the most popular destination city in Africa for a second consecutive year,” said Executive Mayor Park Tau.
“This shows that our efforts as a city at work to promote socio-economic transformation are making an impact, not only locally, but also internationally,” Tau said.
Ranked in second position after Hong Kong on the Good City Index, Johannesburg outdid Mexico City (third), New Orleans in the United States (seventh), Montreal in Canada (12th), Melbourne in Australia (14th), Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (19th), Seoul in South Korea (20th) and Cape Town (25th) for its inspiration and possibility.
The city’s urban regeneration projects include the introduction of bike lanes in Soweto, mixed-use developments in Newtown and the Joburg Art Fair. Other features that contributed towards Johannesburg’s positive ratings as an inspiring city were the Inner City Metro, Newtown Junction, Maboneng’s newest bar, and the city’s use of owls to combat Alexandra’s rat infestation.
View the full list of the world’s most inspiring city here
