There is no single perfect place to live that guarantees happiness for all its residents. However, some cities implement urban policies with remarkable wisdom, continuously analysing their effectiveness, and their results are clearly reflected in the data. These are cities worth observing—tracking their progress and their innovative approaches to urban development.

This is why we created the GOLD Cities group. Not because we have deemed them the best, but because their indicators and figures allow meaningful comparisons with other places around the world, and the impact of their social policies is undeniably visible.

We have developed a data collection system and established weightings that, in our assessment, best reflect the needs of residents. The rest is down to numbers—numbers that, while only figures, offer the most objective picture of the world’s happiest places to live.