Great places to be

In a recent internet survey, tourists and business travellers were asked to rate 50 cities around the world, from the best to the worst. Of the top three cities, two were in Europe and one was in Australia.

In third place was London, scoring highly mainly because it was the most famous city on the list of 50 surveyed. It was also seen as a very good place to do business, and was an important cultural centre. However, it lost points because people believed it was an extremely expensive place to live.

Sydney was also a very popular destination, achieving second place on the list because people believed it had the friendliest inhabitants, as well as the best standard of living and the nicest climate. It failed to make the top spot, however, because people thought there were very few things to see there, and many also thought it was too far away from other business and cultural centres.

At the top of the list was Paris. Despite problems such as the large amount of traffic, it beat other cities to first place because people considered it to be the most interesting city, with more museums, art galleries and places of interest than anywhere else. People also thought it was the best city to take a holiday in.

There are many websites on the Internet which provide lists of the world's best cities to visit, live or work in. These lists usually grade the cities in order, from 'best' to 'worst', and are based on facts and figures provided by local or national organisations.

The City Brands Index (CBI) also provides a list of best and worst cities. However, unlike other surveys, it is based on the idea that cities are similar to products in shops. It asks ordinary people in other countries to grade cities in the same way that they would grade a product, like a soft drink or a car. What is particularly different about the CBI is that the people who take part in the survey may not have ever visited the cities. Instead, they are asked to say what they think the cities are like, basing their opinions on things like news stories, magazine articles or television programmes they have heard or seen.

Each year, about 10,000 people in 20 countries take part in the CBI survey, and they grade a total of 50 cities. They do this by filling in an online questionnaire. There are several categories in the survey. These include things like the economy, education, the environment, local culture, climate and what the city's residents are like.

The CBI list is useful because it helps people choose a good place to live, find work or take a holiday. It also helps regional governments to understand why people and businesses are, or are not, coming to their cities, and so shows them areas which they could develop or improve.