Lausanne grabs top spot in the global affairs and lifestyle magazine Monocle’s debut ranking of the world’s best small cities.
To qualify, a city needs to be home to roughly 200,000 people. This provides a sweet spot between social and cultural diversity and quaintness, according to the publisher. Lausanne has a population of 140,000.
Once over (or under) this hurdle cities are compared on hard metrics such as crime rates, life expectancy and quality of universities – Lausanne has EPFL, IMD and the École Hôtelière – along with more intangible factors, such as whether you can get a good coffee at 6am or be on a dance floor at 2am.
The authors describe Lausanne as “small enough to feel familiar, big enough to live in, with something to offer at every stage of life: good schools, top universities, professional opportunities (combined with ease of travel) and a slower pace of life in later years.”
“Stone buildings, with shutters in soft green, chalky blue and dove grey, give Lausanne an elegant, almost-Mediterranean vibe. On its charming streets, shops sell goods ranging from flaky croissants to antiquarian books.”
The city is also praised for an internationalism that belies its size. “The city is hugely international: more than 40 per cent of its population is foreign. And since 1994 it has proudly held the title of Olympic Capital, as the base of the International Olympic Committee. You’ll hear French, German and Italian spoken, plus English in accents from Australian to Canadian.”
It scores well on nightlife too. “Start the evening with wine before moving to one of the city’s clubs or music venues.” Young people in Geneva are known to be drawn to Lausanne’s night life.
And if you tire of the city, it’s well connected to numerous attractive destinations, including Basel, which came 14th in the same ranking. “If Lausanne’s streets start to feel too narrow, the lake and mountains are within easy reach. Geneva Airport is a 45-minute train ride away and there are direct rail connections to Milan and Paris (both under four hours).”
However, affordability is one small city advantage absent in Lausanne (and every other city in Switzerland!). “Lausanne is Switzerland’s third-most expensive city to rent an apartment in. More affordable housing is needed, especially for families.” note the authors.
Monocle’s list of the world’s top 25 small cities:
- Lausanne, Switzerland
- Boulder, USA
- Bergen, Norway
- Hobart, Australia
- Chigasaki, Japan
- Bolzano, Italy
- Bordeaux, France
- Innsbruck, Austria
- Porto, Portugal
- Aachen, Germany
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Savannah, USA
- Potsdam, Germany
- Basel, Switzerland
- Chiang Mai, Thailand
- Victoria, Canada
- San Sebastián, Spain
- Eindhoven, Netherlands
- Bath, UK
- Aalborg, Denmark
- Wiesbaden, Germany
- Trieste, Italy
- Haarlem, Netherlands
- Annapolis, USA
- Salzburg, Austria
More on this:
Monocle ranking (in English)
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JOYPATTINSON says
I wonder how many of us have ever heard of MONACLE?
Le News says
It’s quite well known in the media world. It was created by the Canadian Tyler Brûlé who also founded the magazine Wallpaper. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monocle_(UK_magazine)