The world's least popular cities revealed in largest ever global study

Ipsos Cities Index identified New York, London and Paris as clear winners when people were asked their views on the best places to live, work and visit. However the Cities Index also shines a light on the world's least popular cities. The Cities Index is based on a combined score of the percentage singling out that city as one of their three favourite places to (a) live (b) work and (c) visit. At the foot of the table, in 48th place, is Karachi, with a score of 0. It is followed by Tehran (with a score of 1), and Tel Aviv (with a score of 3). Three other big cities may be surprised to see themselves so far down the list. Warsaw may now be a thriving capital with a restored old town. Casablanca may be one of North Africa’s most important business centres. Budapest has its unique location on the Danube, and its traditional spas. But the world’s public don’t seem to have noticed, and they too lie very close to the foot of the table. And there are other cities which may also fall into the “could do better?” category. President Putin will be dismayed to find Moscow sitting alongside Brussels, in 31st place. And Madrid (20th), Istanbul (23rd) and Bangkok (25th) might be disappointed to be placed well below the “superbrand” cities at the top of the table. The survey throws up fascinating findings as well as its headlines – eg. Why do the Spanish all want to move to Northern Europe? What is the magnetism of the Antipodes for the British? All this and more is explored in depth in the study which will be released in full at an event on 4th September at the Foreign Press Association. Commenting on these findings, Ben Page, Chief Executive of Ipsos, said:

“The global public are quite discerning about their favourite cities. New York is top for business, Paris is the place to visit, Zurich is the number one place to live. But they are united about which cities they don’t feel are strong – across the 24 countries covered, Karachi gets nil points, with Tehran, Tel Aviv and Warsaw barely troubling the scorer.”

The mixed results also throw up some interesting findings - Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai scored well on places to do business but are not seen as attractive places to live.

Individual city results will be released at on the evening of the 4th September when Hugh Robertson MP, Government Minister for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport will be speaking at the Foreign Press Association event.

The Ipsos Cities Index Bottom Six
43: Budapest	4
44: Casablanca	4
45: Warsaw	3
46: Tel Aviv	3
47: Tehran	1
48: Karachi	0

• The full details are available on the Ipsos Top Cities website: www.ipsos-mori.com/topcities

Technical note

• The questions were placed on Ipsos Global @dvisor Wave 42 (G@42), an Ipsos survey conducted between 5-19 February 2013.
• The survey is conducted monthly in 24 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. The countries covered are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America.
• The research is based on an international sample of 18,147 adults aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries. Sample size is approximately 1,000 per country, with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+.
• Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country Census data.
• The “Europe’s top city” findings are based on the ratings given by respondents in the 11 European countries covered in the survey.