Paris (France), Copenhagen (Denmark), Florence (Italy) and Lund (Sweden) are among the most creative cities in the European Union. According to the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor published by the European Commission on 8 October, these cities rank first compared to others with the same number of inhabitants.
A total of 190 cities in 30 countries, including Norway and Switzerland, were evaluated. This is 22 more cities than 2 years ago, during the very first edition of the Monitor (see EUROPE 11824/31). The Monitor measures qualitative and quantitative criteria, including the cultural vibrancy, creative economy and enabling environment, and is based on data from Eurostat, a Eurobarometer survey, the European Commission, university rankings, the European Tertiary Education Register, TripAdvisor and Open Street Map.
The European Commission notes that it is very difficult to make a comparison, given the heterogeneity of the criteria. However, it notes that "the 'ideal' Cultural and Creative City in Europe would have the Cultural Venues & Facilities of Weimar (Germany), the Cultural Participation & Attractiveness of Florence (Italy), the Creative & Knowledge-based Jobs, the Human Capital & Education and the Local & International Connections of Paris (France), the Intellectual Property & Innovation of Eindhoven (the Netherlands), the New Jobs in Creative Sectors of Budapest (Hungary), the Openness, Tolerance & Trust of Glasgow (United Kingdom) and the Quality of Governance of Aarhus (Denmark)".
The Monitor also reports an increase in the number of jobs in the culture and creative sectors in cities in northern and eastern Europe, with an average annual increase of about 12% in Budapest (Hungary), Tallinn (Estonia), Vilnius (Lithuania), Krakow and Wroclaw (Poland) and Tartu (Estonia). (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)