The birthplace of Armani, Versace and dozens of other megawatt icons is no longer content with being Europe’s fashion and design centre. Or even Italy’s financial heart. Milan is driven, as always, by its entrepreneurial hunger and increasingly fuelled by wealthy newcomers lured to the famed good life (ranked #16 in our overall Prosperity index) by government tax breaks on foreign income earned abroad. The result is an influx of Brexit (and Russian) capital seeking a home, and the flurry of luxury real estate, hotels and social clubs that such capital inspires. The Ferragamo-owned Lungarno Collection unveiled the Portrait Milano in one of Europe’s oldest seminaries, complete with a massive piazza. And there are two new W properties on the scene, along with a soon-to-open Ritz-Carlton. Its strategic proximity to other European capitals—not to mention the alpine resorts that pull in the global elite—won the city the 2026 Olympic Winter Games and a rush of development that includes a long- awaited train link between Milan Bergamo Airport and the centro. The Milano Innovation District (MIND) is rapidly emerging as Italy’s leading life sciences hub, driven by major tenants like Ospedale Galeazzi-Sant’Ambrogio and AstraZeneca, significantly boosting the city’s innovation ecosystem.