Research: London & Paris top digitally visible European cities

A return to live events in 2022 saw London and Paris cement their top positions in an annual ranking of the digital visibility of Europe’s top 60 cities. While London topped Paris in rankings of European cities with the highest online visibility and investment prospects, Madrid, Istanbul and Rome followed in the top five.

The fifth edition of Europe’s Most Talked about Cities, an annual ranking of the digital visibility of Europe’s top 60 cities by communications consultancy ING Media provides an insight into which cities are gaining most attention and profile, as measured by social media and online news mentions.

The ranking is designed to help city policy and place makers understand how online presence affects a city’s brand and investment prospects.

This edition of the report examined the role of “soft power” for the first time and revealed a direct correlation between a city’s soft power status and its digital output.

The comparison of soft power was based on the influence of culture, travel, education, diversity, and environmental credentials. London and Paris came first and second in terms of digital visibility and soft power.

Berlin ranked third due to its flourishing tech hub and reputation as a modern history hotspot but the city also performs strongly across all soft power index categories, especially in areas such as world heritage sites and Michelin-starred restaurants, boosting Berlin’s overall ranking to 4th.

Rome’s soft power ranking of 7th was attributed to the number of international visitors and UNESCO world heritage sites. The city was third in overall city rankings.

Vienna’s soft power ranking of 12th is attributed to its strength in arts and culture. Vienna was 6th in overall city rankings.