Bath named world’s best city for green space and nature

Bath has been named the world’s best city for green space and nature in a new global ranking by Time Out and Intrepid Travel, based on a global survey of 24,000 city residents.

The city topped an international list ahead of Chicago, Montreal, Riga and Melbourne, with a separate UK ranking also placing Bath firmly at number one.

The recognition highlights Bath’s unique combination of accessible green space, historic landscape setting and long-term investment in nature-led urban design.

Andrew Grant, founder of Grant Associates and Chair of the Bathscape Landscape Partnership, welcomed the news:

“This is fantastic recognition for Bath and its landscape setting. What makes Bath special is not just the quantity of green space, but the way the city and its surrounding hills, rivers and parks are experienced as one connected landscape.

“Bath is a true landscape city, shaped by its setting and defined by its connection to nature – and it’s great to see that recognised on a global stage.

“These landscapes aren’t just a backdrop, they are fundamental to Bath’s identity and to everyday life here. Looking after them is critical to the city’s future.”

Grant added:

“Over many years, there has been a strong commitment to protect, enhance and better connect these natural assets – from the River Avon corridor to the wider Cotswold landscape. That long-term thinking is now being recognised globally.

“Cities that invest in landscape are investing in their future. Bath shows how heritage, ecology and everyday life can come together to create something genuinely world-class.”

Bath’s ranking reflects growing international awareness of the role landscape plays in shaping healthier, more resilient and more liveable cities.

For Grant Associates, the announcement reinforces the importance of integrating nature into the heart of urban environments – not as an add-on, but as a defining structure for how cities evolve.

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Editors notes

Grant Associates is a pioneering international landscape architecture practice, whose work reconnects people with nature in insightful, delightful and distinctive ways whilst addressing the global challenges of urbanisation, the climate crisis and biodiversity extinction. Grant Associates’ design process is underpinned by a knowledge of human behaviour, nature and ecological science combined with innovative design technology. The practice combines original thinking, creative collaboration and regenerative design to breathe new life into our cities and landscapes.