{"id":37357,"date":"2026-03-11T00:56:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/37357\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T00:56:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:56:11","slug":"birmingham-named-one-of-europes-fastest-growing-cities-ahead-of-prague-oslo-and-rotterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/37357\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham named one of Europe’s fastest growing cities – ahead of Prague, Oslo and Rotterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birmingham was described as a place that’s “reshaping both its reality and its reputation”<\/p>\n

Alexander Brock Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n

00:01, 11 Mar 2026<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A view looking out over Birmingham city centre from the HS2 Curzon Viaduct 2 on January 14, 2026(Image: Christopher Furlong\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Birmingham has been named as one of Europe\u2019s fastest growing cities despite recent turmoil and unwanted headlines.<\/p>\n

A new study that looks at how much cities are talked about praised Brum\u2019s \u201cvibrant\u201d cultural scene, \u201cwell-defined\u201d civic identity and ambition for the future.<\/p>\n

The report comes from consultancy ING, which ranks Europe\u2019s most talked about cities every year, measuring online mentions from news outlets, digital publications and social media.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Birmingham to bid for City of Music status amid ‘musical legacy’<\/a><\/p>\n

The ranking is used as an indicator of how visible cities are in the online conversation, which in turn is linked to their overall success in attracting tourism, investment and business.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s report expanded from 60 to 70 cities Europe-wide, which ING says is a reflection of the fact that more places are generating enough attention to compete than ever before.<\/p>\n

But despite the tougher competition, Birmingham<\/a> actually climbed two places \u2013 making it one of the ten fastest rising cities overall.<\/p>\n

The city now sits ahead of larger capitals such as Prague, and well-known European hubs including Oslo, Copenhagen and Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirmingham is the UK\u2019s youngest and most diverse major city, and that profile feeds a cultural scene that is far more vibrant than its national visibility often suggests,\u201d the report reads.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

Black Sabbath’s Ozzy Osbourne at Villa Park(Image: Ross Halfin)<\/p>\n

\u201cMajor city centre reconfiguration, new public spaces and better integrated transport are bold signals of intent and momentum to the outside world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis energy sits alongside a well-defined civic identity: being \u2018Brummie\u2019 is rooted in pride, resilience and a long lineage of creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passing of Ozzy Osbourne<\/a>, one of Birmingham\u2019s most globally recognised and beloved figures, brought that identity into sharp focus in 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the future, it also pointed to HS2 and the city council<\/a> being back on a \u201cstable financial footing\u201d as positive signs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirmingham is presenting itself more clearly as a place of ambition and collective purpose and conversations about the city increasingly reflect that shift,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Birmingham Council ‘unlocks new homes’ in estate despite regeneration setback<\/a><\/p>\n

Lucie Murray, head of cities at ING, said Birmingham\u2019s climb in the ranking \u201creflects a city that\u2019s actively reshaping both its reality and its reputation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirmingham\u2019s cultural legacy has become more visible,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe global tributes following the death of Ozzy Osbourne in 2025 sparked renewed attention on the city\u2019s contribution to music, reminding the world about Birmingham\u2019s global cultural impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Damian Wild, managing director at ING, added: \u201cIn a year when competition intensified and many cities fell back, Birmingham moved forward on both counts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a period caught in the headlines for the wrong reasons, the focus is finally focusing on the city\u2019s many strengths, and rightly so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Europe\u2019s 10 top most talked about cities overall, according to the study, are as follows:<\/p>\n

ParisLondonMadridRomeMilanBarcelonaBerlinAmsterdamBrusselsValencia<\/p>\n

Manchester and Liverpool came in at 11th and 14th place respectively, while Birmingham was 27th overall \u2013 just a few places behind the likes of Porto, Budapest and Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

The 10 fastest-rising cities in this year\u2019s rankings included Manchester, Porto, Munich, Budapest and Hamburg.<\/p>\n

\u2018Great opportunities\u2019<\/p>\n

Ahead of local elections in May, the leader of Labour<\/a>-run Birmingham Council suggested that \u201cgreat days\u201d could be ahead for the city.<\/p>\n

Asked what Birmingham Labour\u2019s message will be to voters, Councillor John Cotton said: \u201cIt needs to be about the great opportunities here in this city.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the youngest and most diverse city in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we\u2019ve got problems when it comes to unemployment, too many people still feel locked out of growth in this city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the bit we\u2019re going to now focus on fixing, creating those pathways to those jobs in the growth industries \u2013 whether it\u2019s life sciences, creative industries, advanced manufacturing.<\/p>\n

\"Birmingham<\/p>\n

Birmingham Council leader John Cotton at the budget meeting on February 24, 2026(Image: Alexander Brock)<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat days ahead if we seize them and work together at all levels of government \u2013 and also with businesses and communities in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Factors such as the equal pay and Oracle debacles contributed to the recent financial strife at the council while Labour councillors have argued that funding cuts during the previous Conservative government played a role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham was described as a place that’s “reshaping both its reality and its reputation” Alexander Brock Local Democracy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[85],"tags":[21441,21439,21443,21440,7563,157,156,21442,1158],"class_list":["post-37357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oslo","tag-birmingham-city-centre","tag-birmingham-city-council","tag-black-sabbath","tag-hs2","tag-labour-party","tag-norway","tag-oslo","tag-ozzy-osbourne","tag-politics"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116207824878485269","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}