Stuttgart is a hardworking economic engine that performs across multiple metrics with aplomb. Its residents are as international as they are ambitious, ranking #12 for GDP Per Capita while boasting the 10th-lowest unemployment rate in Europe. The city’s high score in our overall Prosperity category (#28) is shared among the growing talent base. The economic rev was sideswiped by the pandemic, when Stuttgart’s optimised meetings and conventions business fell silent. The #23-ranked convention centre has since reopened and doubled down on sustainability, with more than half its area committed to green space and the solar panels on its roof generating surplus electricity locally. Also buzzing are the streets around the convention centre, as the business travel that fuelled Stuttgart’s party mile for decades—a hub of bars, cafés, clubs and intimate drinking dens—has roared back. Given the pent-up demand, this was one place in Germany where the post-pandemic return to business was swiftest. It’s not surprising: Stuttgart ranks an impressive #31 in our Large Companies subcategory, and is an economic hub boasting the European headquarters of Bosch, Porsche and IBM. Additionally, Stuttgart 21, the €9-billion transport and urban development project, is transforming the central station into a modern transit hub and unlocking new housing and commercial districts.