The happiest cities in the world have been named for 2024 – but London has barely even made the top 40. This may be surprising, or unsurprising, to inhabitants in the capital, but it’s still been ranked higher than Manchester, Reading and Milton Keynes.
However, scoring far higher in this year’s Happy City Index is a gorgeous UK city just an hour and a half from London. Bristol sits nestled in the hills of South West England and lays claim to being “the UK’s most dynamic city”.
According to the Happy City Index, the ‘happiest cities’ are chosen through a range of factors including a “commitment to happiness cultivation and growth”, education, inclusivity, environmental protection and more which are displayed in the impact on residents’ quality of life. The Index caveats that the top 37 cities on their list, which includes both London and Bristol, are deliberately not actually ranked – despite being ordered by total score in the list published.
READ MORE: Village ‘no one can pronounce’ named best place to live in 2024
The reason behind this is, they say, because a happy city will look different to a five year old as to a student, and then to a corporate professional or a senior citizen. But through five different scores, including citizens, governance, environment, economy and mobility, the cities are all given a total score.
And Bristol is the highest scoring city in the UK, with a total of 1709.8. It is not clear what the highest scores a city can receive in each category are, but Aarhus in Denmark scored just 40 points more with 1749.2.
But given the popularity of Bristol, it’s easy to see why it’s scored so highly in this year’s Happy City Index. The city has a rich cultural history, and is even a UNESCO City of Film.
Its harbour dates the city back to 1051 as a trading port for ships coming into England from the west. Bristol has also had a long and complex relationship with slavery, which came to head in recent years with the toppling of statues into the river in protest at the city’s dark past.
The city has something for everyone, and also offers great education for families looking to bring up children. Bristolians are notoriously friendly people as well – give someone a smile and you’ll get one back – and there’s a strong sense of community spirit in the city.
Crime is also much lower than the average across the UK – in Bristol the average crime rate is 33.6 crimes per 1,000 people, while the UK average is 75.88 per 1,000 people. This is even more impressive given that crime tends to be higher in cities.
And for visitors from London, Bristol is just one and a half hours away on the train, making it the perfect place for a weekend away, or even a day trip.
You can book UK and European trains on Trainline. You can book coaches on National Express or GoEuro. See accommodation options on Booking.com and Hotels.com.
Got a story for us? Email [email protected].
Get the biggest stories from around London straight to your inbox. Sign up to MyLondon’s The 12 HERE for the 12 biggest stories each day.
