South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, has been ranked as the top African city for young people – and the 14th best city in the world.<\/p>\n
This is according to the latest Youthful Cities index for 2014, which considers and ranks 25 of the top global cities from a youth perspective.<\/p>\n
Canada’s Toronto was ranked as the top city in the world, followed by Berlin in Germany and New York in the USA.<\/p>\n
Johannesburg placed 14th overall, ahead of Cairo (21st), Lagos (23rd), Nairobi (24th) and Kinshasa (25th) in Africa.<\/p>\n
The index ranks cities across the globe based on 80 indicators in 16 categories. In order to give insight on life for youths in the cities – but not used to compile the index itself – Youthful Cities conducted a survey with 1,600 youths between the ages of 15 and 29.<\/p>\n
“According to the UN, the empowerment of youth is vital for future prosperity of cities,” the report said.<\/p>\n
“This is something that many youth intuitively know. Mindful of this, our aim has been to provide a breakdown of the places that youth and themselves better involved in the give and take of power.”<\/p>\n
Some of the categories researched for the index include civic participation, diversity, digital access, food and nightlife, economic status, financial access and youth employment, amongst others.<\/p>\n
According to the index report, African cities, like those in Latin America, scored well in terms of civic participation, while Johannesburg scored best for fashion, art and diversity.<\/p>\n
Johannesburg was voted the sixth most diverse city in the world and was the highest placed African city in six other categories.<\/p>\n
In contrast, digital access and regional and global connectivity were poor performers. In the category of youth entrepreneurship (early stage entrepreneurial activity and entrepreneurship incubators) \u2013 Johannesburg was ranked 18th globally.<\/p>\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\n| City<\/strong><\/td>\n | Index Score | \n<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 1<\/td>\n | Toronto<\/td>\n | 843.85<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 2<\/td>\n | Berlin<\/td>\n | 836.44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 3<\/td>\n | New York<\/td>\n | 831.98<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 4<\/td>\n | Dallas<\/td>\n | 784.06<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 5<\/td>\n | Paris<\/td>\n | 775.25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 6<\/td>\n | Chicago<\/td>\n | 774.53<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 7<\/td>\n | London<\/td>\n | 762.40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 8<\/td>\n | Los Angeles<\/td>\n | 754.39<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 9<\/td>\n | Tokyo<\/td>\n | 735.91<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 10<\/td>\n | Seoul<\/td>\n | 723.59<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 11<\/td>\n | Beunos Aires<\/td>\n | 714.03<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 12<\/td>\n | Mexico City<\/td>\n | 672.24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 13<\/td>\n | Rome<\/td>\n | 667.34<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 14<\/strong><\/td>\n | Johannesburg<\/strong><\/td>\n | 663.98<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 15<\/td>\n | Lima<\/td>\n | 655.44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 16<\/td>\n | Mumbai<\/td>\n | 647.82<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 17<\/td>\n | Sao Paulo<\/td>\n | 646.97<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 18<\/td>\n | Bogota<\/td>\n | 623.41<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 19<\/td>\n | Istanbul<\/td>\n | 610.26<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 20<\/td>\n | Shanghai<\/td>\n | 583.84<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 21<\/td>\n | Cairo<\/td>\n | 579.57<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 22<\/td>\n | Manila<\/td>\n | 564.67<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 23<\/td>\n | Lagos<\/td>\n | 540.63<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 24<\/td>\n | Nairobi<\/td>\n | 434.24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n | 25<\/td>\n | Kinshasa<\/td>\n | 331.95<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n | More on Johannesburg<\/h3>\nMost expensive suburbs in Joburg<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Joburg mobile: high speeds, high prices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Joburg actually is a world class African city<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n |