The 40 coolest neighbourhoods in the world!

Do you know which neighbourhood is in the first position? shhhhh, just between you and me! 😜

Every year, we survey thousands of people around the globe to discover the world’s coolest neighbourhoods: the places that represent the spirit of the greatest cities on earth. These are the places to be for food and fun, art and culture, atmosphere and personality. Every year, there’s plenty of debate and lots of love. But in 2020, our neighbourhoods have taken on a whole new importance.

1. Esquerra de l’Eixample, Barcelona

Barcelona’s sprawling Eixample district is split into two distinct sections – and although the Dreta de l’Eixample normally gets all the attention, with its dazzling luxury shops and spectacular modernista buildings, in 2020 all eyes are on Esquerra de l’Eixample.

Residential and down-to-earth, this left side of the Eixample has a characteristic architecture where each block of flats features its own interior courtyard. During Barcelona’s strict lockdown, these spaces became focal points for the city’s energy – as in the pop-up Hidrogel Sessions, in which residents dressed up in costumes and organised mass dance parties from their balconies.

Meanwhile, a local Mutual Support Network was created to help the most vulnerable, and Ada Parellada from the well-known Semproniana restaurant started cooking for health workers. These are just a few demonstrations of the humanity shared by an authentic Barcelona neighbourhood – one which was a pioneer in providing space for LGBTQ+ businesses (thus earning its nickname of the ‘Gayxample’).

Community spaces such as the Fàbrica Lehmann, the urban garden of the Espai Germanetes, the Ninot market and the Joan Miró park are among many others that you’re unlikely to find in many guidebooks. This year of all years, it’s the Esquerra de l’Eixample that points the way toward a future Barcelona where locals, not tourists, rule the roost. —Borja Duñó, Time Out Barcelona