Cultural capital of the world
The City of Mexico is the cultural capital of the world in this 2023.
In recent years, the glorious City of Mexico has entered the lists of the best cities, mainly due to the friendliness of the people, the cost and quality of life, and above all, its culture, gastronomy, leisure destinations, and climate. The latest list from Time Out, which published its first ranking of the best cultural cities in the world, positioned Mexico City as the cultural capital of the world in 2023.
Time Out created this list to discover the best cities for art and culture by asking more than 21,000 residents from cities around the world. Residents were questioned and asked to rate their city’s cultural offerings based on their quality and affordability.
They then narrowed down prospective cities, listing those with the highest scores from each country. So, it was thanks to the residents of CDMX, speaking positively about ourselves, that we were chosen as the city with the greatest ‘quality and affordability of the cultural scene.’ The great variety of museums in the Mexican capital, including the grand Palacio de Bellas Artes and the iconic Frida Kahlo Museum, many of which are permanently free, contributed to this.
Also highlighted is the free admission to museums and cultural life in general, and ‘the world-famous Day of the Dead street parade and the Festival del Centro are annual events that both locals and visitors to CDMX eagerly anticipate each year.’
The second place on the list is Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, for its ‘impressive architecture as a true open-air museum.’ The third place went to Cape Town, the capital of South Africa, followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina, and finally, in fifth place, is Athens, Greece.
In the final ranking, four ‘spotlight’ cities were added: Florence, Marrakech, Abu Dhabi, and Seoul. These cities were not surveyed but were nominated by Time Out editors and local contributors as cultural capitals deserving special attention.
This is the first time has been conducted a city survey focused on culture, with over 21,000 city residents expressing their opinions on the cultural scene in their city. One of the most important factors in this ranking is how locals rate their city’s cultural scene.
Here is the complete list of the 20 cultural cities:
Mexico City, Mexico
Prague, Czech Republic
Cape Town, South Africa
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Athens, Greece
Edinburgh, Scotland
Vienna, Austria
Madrid, Spain
Florence, Italy
Melbourne, Australia
Paris, France
Montreal, Canada
Marrakech, Morocco
São Paulo, Brazil
New York City, United States
Tokyo, Japan
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Mumbai, India
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Seoul, South Korea”
