Warsaw ranked 17th and is described in the report as a city "fast becoming Europe’s gravitational centre, where the past and future of the continent meet on the Vistula, … with the third-lowest unemployment rate in Europe and the second-most educated workforce."
The southern city of Kraków placed 31st in the ranking of the 100 European cities "shaping tomorrow."
According to the report, "few European cities wear their history as vividly as Kraków, where Wawel Castle rises above the Vistula and the Cloth Hall continues trading, just as it has for centuries."
The report also highlighted the city's cultural attractions, including a museum dedicated to playwright and painter Stanisław Wyspiański.
The Baltic port city of Gdańsk ranked 39th. The report said the city’s architecture "reflects the shifting empires of Baltic history," noting that the opening shots of World War II were fired there by the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein. Four decades later, Gdańsk became the birthplace of the Solidarity movement that helped bring about the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
Other Polish cities in the ranking include Wrocław, in 42nd place – “the fourth-largest city in Poland which has 10th-century roots as a crossroads of commerce and culture;” Poznań, in 64th place – “a business and scientific hub, home to multinational corporations such as Roche, Amazon and Unilever and a university pipeline that helps explain the third-lowest unemployment rate in Europe;” and Katowice, in 93rd place – “a city named by UNESCO a Creative City of Music, with the International Congress Centre that can host up to 25,000 people.”
London, Paris and Berlin topped the ranking.
(mk/gs)