Given its enviable location in the geographic heart of Europe (and its #6-ranked airport, soon to be able to serve 100 million passengers annually), combined with its swift courtship of post-Brexit finance firms looking for stability, is it any wonder Frankfurt is today known as “Mainhatten”? More than 200 banks call the city home, including 160 international firms, the European Central Bank and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany’s largest. The city ranks #20 in our Large Companies subcategory and #13 for GDP Per Capita. Then there’s the ongoing buildout of the infrastructure required to house all that foreign direct investment, and today Frankfurt boasts 14 of Germany’s 15 tallest buildings. Another eight skyscrapers, some well over 200 metres, are being built, like FOUR Frankfurt, a live-work neighbourhood of four towers in the financial district. Besides banking, the start-up ecosystem is also ascendant, with insurance, cybersecurity and fintech inspired by the success of insurance platform unicorn Clark, which hit a valuation of US$1 billion in 2021. All that rolls up into a record-breaking 2024 with €5.5 billion worth of projects in the city. But it’s not all business: the city is working hard to let locals and visitors know about its #19-ranking biking infrastructure.