The 20 Best Cities On The Planet: Hub Culture 2010 Zeitgeist

The Hub Culture social network has released their annual ranking of the world’s 20 best cities to live in. Compiled using intel from Hub members around the globe, this year’s Zeitgeist Ranking features favorites from previous years along with some new surprises.

This year’s number 1? S?o Paulo:

Brazil suddenly seems to be everyone’s darling, and gigantic São Paulo is where everything in Brazil happens.  For resources, Brazil has become one of the most important single players in the world.  In energy, years of green policies and initiatives in biofuels are paying dividends. As carbon markets develop, the Amazon has the potential to become a lucrative, protected carbon gold mine. The oil is about to kick in.

São Paulo’s young, vibrant population is a consumer boom in the making, and the night life just gets better and better – DOM.  With this year’s Olympic win in neighboring Rio de Janeiro (a short flight away), a dynamic president, one of the world’s most stable currencies, and a general sense of optimism, São Paulo looks set to become a world power. Now is the moment of creation in the southern hemisphere’s largest urban center.  Sadly, even the crime and inequality feel zeitgeisty – like an omen for rising class problems in urban centers worldwide.

And the rest of the top ten:

2. Berlin
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles
5. Shanghai
6. Zürich
7. Sydney
8. New York
9. London
10. Hong Kong

See city details, and the rest of the list here.

[image via Diego 3336]