Leiden enters fDi Intelligence European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023 ranking

For the first time Leiden enters the European Cities and Regions ranking of the Future. Leiden claims a top 3 position in ‘Connectivity’ in the category of small cities (100k-350k inhabitants) in the 2023 ranking. Corine van der Ceelen, manager of Leiden Convention Bureau mentions “The same arguments used for connectivity for investments are valid for Leiden as Convention City.". 

The European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023 ranking benchmarked against each other the most promising investment destinations across Europe. It assessed as many as 370 European cities divided by population size into five groups — major, large, mid-sized, small and micro cities — as well as 148 European regions divided into three groups — large, mid-sized and small regions. 

Everything was ranked by their performance across five subcategories: economic potential; business friendliness; connectivity; human capital and lifestyle; and cost effectiveness. 

Connectivity was measured by comparing datapoints such as download speed, ICT Development index, Distance to nearest international airport, Number of large ports within 100km, Networked Readiness Index, Environmental Performance Index. 

According to Van der Ceelen “Accessibility and connectivity of the city are unique selling points for conference organisers to choose for Leiden. Leiden has a large train station, is very close to two international airports and once arrived, the city centre offers everything on walking distance.". 

Source: fDi Intellegence European Cities and Regions of the Future 2023