Cities are in the business of promoting themselves -- whether to tourists, potential residents or companies.
Yes, it's all about branding, something Sydney does well, based on the fact that the city was named the top city brand in 2007 and 2008 thanks to its iconic beaches, friendly residents and well-known kangaroos.
But this year, the capital city Down Under couldn't fend off the iconic city of Paris, which rose to the top of the 2009 Anholt-GfK Roper City Brands Index on the strength of the unmistakable Eiffel Tower and French flair.
The survey, which captures consumer perception of the image and reputation of 50 major cities worldwide, "measures the world's perception of each city, which influences people's choices on where to live, work and vacation," says Simon Anholt, City Brand Index founder.
This year's top 10 are Paris, Sydney, London, Rome, New York, Barcelona, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vienna and Madrid.
Though no Canadian cities rose to the top 10, Toronto did crack it for several other categories, including top people brand ranking, and finished 13th overall. Vancouver was ranked 18th out of 50.
The six categories on which cities were judged are: Presence (knowledge of city and perception of its global contribution), place (cleanliness, aesthetic qualities and climate), prerequisites (affordable accommodations and quality of public amenities), people (friendliness, personal encounters and cultural diversity), pulse (interesting events, activities and lifestyles) and potential (perception as good place to do business, to find a job and to go to school).
Though Sydney finished ahead of Paris in more categories, "it is Paris' big lead over Sydney in the presence and pulse dimensions that push it into the top position overall," explains Xiaoyan Zhao, senior vice-president and director of the CBI study.
"Similarly, there are cities with notable strengths in some areas but are pulled down by their poor showings in others."
Cities that fell to the bottom of the survey include Mumbai, which wasn't viewed as a very clean place, and Cairo, for having what respondents thought were very unfriendly citizens.
Each year, more than 10,000 people from 20 countries across the globe are interviewed as part of the study.
-- Nicole Feenstra is canoe.ca's travel editor
