Dublin has been ranked as the 27th most reputable city in the world ahead of leading cities such as Berlin and San Francisco, but seven places lower than last year.
The City Reptrak 2014 index, which ranks 100 cities across a wide number of indicators including business environment and administration, places Vienna at the top of the pile with a score of 76.4. Munich, Sydney, Florence and Venice round out the top five most reputable cities, according to the research.
Dublin, while ranking 27th, had a score of 70.65 putting it in the category of ‘cities with a strong reputation.’
The study, which is compiled by The Reputations Agency and Reputation Institute, reveals that Dublin achieved strong scores in a number of attributes, such as the beauty of the city. Dublin performed less well across economic and business oriented attributes, such as potential for future growth and respectability of its leaders.
"The good reputation of a city strongly correlates with an increase in the support shown towards a city, such as visiting the city, living or working in the city or deciding to invest in the city. We need to understand the perceptions of Dublin as reported upon in this study, to identify our competitive strengths and points of difference and then develop the city's unique brand and reputation strategy," said Niamh Boyle, managing director of The Reputations Agency.
Baghdad (30.03), Tehran (34.69) and Bogota (43.16) are the cities with the lowest ratings, according to the study.
The research gathered data through an online questionnaire to 19,000 members of the general public in the G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and US). Only people who were "somewhat" or "very" familiar with the cities are selected to rate them.
The World’s Top 10 Most Reputable Cities:
1 Vienna (76.4)
2 Munich (76.2)
3 Sydney (75.5)
4 Florence (75.3)
5 Venice (75.2)
6 Oslo (74.9)
7 Vancouver (74.8)
8 London (74.6)
9 Barcelona (73.7)
10 Montreal (73.1)
Source: The Reputations Agency and Reputation Institute