And The World's Most Sociable City Is

Gothenburg is the world’s most sociable city, according to the Social Cities Index, a new study on global sociability from Hostelworld and Foresight Factory.

Top 10 most sociable cities overall

1.
Gothenburg (Sweden)
2.
Stockholm (Sweden)
3.
Chicago (USA)
4.
Boston (USA)
5.
New York (USA)
6.
Copenhagen (Denmark)
7.
Madrid (Spain)
8.
Rome (Italy)
9.
Hamburg (Germany)
10.
Dublin (Ireland)
Gothenburg, known as Sweden’s little London, was top of the list, followed by Stockholm, Chicago and Boston in what is described as ‘the first ever comparative study of the social life of world cities’. Hostelworld analysed the behaviour and attitudes of 12,188 residents from 39 major cities in 28 countries, measuring 10 categories of sociability, including how residents socialise and general openness to others.
Respondents were asked questions about their attitudes towards socialising with friends, eating out and partying. According to Hostelworld, differing cities performed well across the categories, however Gothenburg topped three of the 10 criteria.

New Yorkers dine out with friends and family more often

For eating out, New Yorkers were the most sociable, dining with mates 89 times per year on average, or once every four days. That’s just one ahead of Chicago (88), but a few more than Boston (72), Kuala Lumpur (63) and Istanbul (62).

Italy produces the most open-minded travellers with Milan coming out on top, followed by Rome and Germany’s Hamburg in third. When looking at how much populations value socialising, the Scandinavian cities, Gothenburg and Helsinki, scored the highest.

If you’re wondering why notable European cities including Paris, Berlin and London didn’t make the list, the report had this to say: ‘Despite all three having vibrant social scenes, the local residents of each simply don’t socialise as often as those in other global cities, viewing social occasions as special events rather than something done daily. Affordability of socialising out of the home, transport issues and even a lack of leisure time are also significant factors.’

You might also be interested in: Everything You Need to Know About Group Travel.

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Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

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