Press release

Hamburg: City of the future 2023

15 March 2023
Future Awards presented in Cannes

fDi Intelligence, a subsidiary of the Financial Times, presented the European Cities & Regions of the Future Awards for the most promising locations for direct investment in Europe during the MIPIM real estate trade fair in Cannes (14 to 17 March) on Tuesday, 14 March 2023. At the forefront: Hamburg as a business location.

Hamburg took first place in the "European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023" ranking for Larger Cities by fDi Intelligence, a subsidiary of the Financial Times. As the overall winner among the large cities, Hamburg scored with business friendliness and connectivity. The city also came out on top in the sub-category "human capital and lifestyle". Overall, the Hanseatic city was convincing in five categories. In addition, the Hamburg metropolitan region was awarded in three categories for its connectivity and economic potential, among others. More than one third of foreign direct investment in Europe is in renewable energies. Hamburg's strong position in these areas, combined with the advantages of a liveable city, make the location particularly attractive.

Dr. Rolf Strittmatter, Managing Director of the Hamburg Invest business development agency, who accepted the awards at a ceremony at the Majestic Barrière Hotel on the Croisette, commented: "The 'City of the Future' award here at MIPIM is confirmation of our work and an important signal to attract international investors to our location. After all, Hamburg relies on innovation to consolidate its position as Northern Europe's leading business metropolis while ensuring a high quality of life. This guideline benefits guests as well as companies, talents, skilled workers and investors alike. This is also reflected in the good development of many technology and knowledge-based industries and clusters, which benefit greatly from each other. The central location in one of the economically strongest and most dynamic regions in Europe make Hamburg a hotspot for all future sectors along the entire value chain."

Hamburg's real estate sector is competently represented at the leading international real estate trade fair MIPIM in Cannes, France: 23 companies are presenting themselves at the Hamburg joint stand in the Palais des Festivals to tap into new business and meet important international players and investors.

FDI Study "European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023

The study "European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023" compares the most promising investment locations in Europe. The study evaluated 370 European cities, which were divided into large, medium, small and micro cities according to their number of inhabitants, and 148 European regions, which were divided into three groups - large, medium and small regions. London and Zurich are the overall winners in the other two categories, metropolises ("Major Cities") and medium-sized cities ("Mid-Sized Cities").

All regions were ranked according to their performance in five sub-categories: Economic Potential, Business Friendliness, Connectivity, Human Capital and Lifestyle, and Cost Efficiency. For the ranking "European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023", surveys of European investment companies were used for another category: the "FDI Strategy" category. A panel of four investment promotion and economic development experts - Carolina Arriagada Peters, Sean Duggan, Judith O'Doherty and Firdaous Oussidhoum - as well as fDi editor Jacopo Dettoni and reporter Seth O'Farrell, reviewed 89 submissions from cities and regions across Europe. This is the only qualitative category in the otherwise data-based ranking that is included in the overall results.

Sources and further information

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