Barcelona is among the 10 most reputable cities in the world according to a study presented at ESADE
Barcelona is the 9th most reputable city in the world according to City RepTrak® 2014. Presented at ESADE, the study measures the reputation of 100 cities around the world. Madrid and Barcelona are the only Spanish cities to appear in the ranking, which is topped by Vienna, Munich, Sydney, Florence and Oslo.
European cities once again dominated the list, with seven of the top 10 slots going to European cities this year. On average, European cities had an overall score of 68.6, compared with 66.9 for North American cities and far lower scores for cities in the Asia-Pacific region, Latin America and Africa.
This year, Barcelona jumped into the top 10 from its 23rd place showing in 2013, whereas Madrid dropped from 27th place to 32nd place.
According to Ana Varela, Director of the ESADE Brand Institute, "These results show that Barcelona has quickly positioned itself among the top-tier cities of the world." She added, however: "The economic and political environment is not helping to improve this reputation. The various crises have had an impact on investments and infrastructures, as well as on the city’s appeal as a business centre, beyond its notoriety in the creative realm."
Better economic results
City RepTrak® 2014 confirmed that cities with good reputations also do better economically. Enrique Johnson, Director of the Reputation Institute, explained: "A city with a good reputation attracts tourists, talent and investment under better conditions than a less popular city." Similarly, a country’s reputation evolves in parallel to that of its cities, illustrating the close correlation between the two.
The study ranked the most reputable cities on the basis of trust, esteem, admiration and respect, as well as perceptions regarding 13 attributes grouped into three categories: development level, quality of life and institutional quality.
Barcelona on social media
Although Barcelona’s popularity as an topic of discussion waxes and wanes in relation to special events, it always maintains a healthy online presence. According to a global tracking study of the Barcelona brand’s social media presence, the city is primarily mentioned in relation to tourism, sports and culture, but also business, corporate events, conferences and education. The tracking study, also presented today at ESADE, was carried out by Barcelona Global in collaboration with Accenture’s Barcelona-based international big data centre.
This analysis of Barcelona’s social media presence will allow Barcelona Global – a private organisation tasked with helping Barcelona become a top global city for talent attraction and economic development – to develop positioning strategies to raise the city’s profile in the business world.
Ms. Varela explained that "Barcelona’s quality of life has helped it become an aspirational destination" and noted that the Erasmus programmes made it a popular destination for university students. She added: "Barcelona is also a major site for conferences in many fields. It therefore has a strong and predominantly positive presence on social media."
Ms. Varela underscored Barcelona’s positive online presence by noting that the city is hardly ever mentioned in a negative light on social media. Most of the city’s social media mentions come from Spain (43%), the United States (16.6%) and the United Kingdom (14.1%).
