Oslo: State of the City 2024
"Oslo:The State of the City" captures Oslo through the eyes of the rest of the world. It reviews how Oslo compares and competes internationally, drawing on hundreds of city benchmarks to see how Oslo is perceived and how it is actually performing. Next up is for Oslo to live up to its billing and to persuade more of the world that it is better than the alternatives.
For the last 10 years, Oslo has been driving Norway’s quest to diversify its economy, become resilient, and present a new face to the world.
As Europe’s 4th fastest growing capital city in the past decade, Oslo has used its resource and governance advantages to go on a journey towards a more mixed economy, a venue for culture and creativity, a green capital, and a hub for innovative startups. Along the way Oslo has started to gain a special role in the world as a city that leads, pioneers, and excites.
Oslo is now well into its next development and investment cycle, within a new chapter of global competition and specialisation. There are now more than 300 cities competing internationally for global activity, triple the number 20 years ago. Some talent is now more mobile, and others more sticky. The challenge to be welcoming, frictionless and affordable, and to be perceived as such, looms larger than ever.
While other cities are more divided or distracted, Oslo has some deep advantages and building blocks.
Yet, towards 2030 Oslo has a task on its hands to become a top-choice city in more eyes, differentiated from the rest. Having raised expectations, Oslo has to reveal its excellence, work on its flaws, and persuade that it is better than elsewhere as a place to work, visit, study, discover, live, and be a partner in the city’s future.