A recent study has identified Chester as the world’s most beautiful city.
The research, undertaken by property expert Online Mortgage Advisor, used a complex mathematical formula to analyse cities across the globe to assess their aesthetic appeal.
Dating back to Ancient Greece, the formula dubbed the “golden ratio” is designed to measure galaxies, waves, flowers and everything else that falls under the banner of being “inherently pleasing to the eye”.
The Derby-based mortgage broker applied the formula to every city in the world, to discover that Chester ranked the highest with the greatest number of buildings within its walls falling inside the ratio.
To calculate the most beautiful city in the world, researchers measured iconic landmarks and regular buildings located in each city against the golden ratio (1:1.618). The project involved them scanning Google Street View for thousands of front-facing photos and plotting points from building corners to measure the shortest and longest dimensions. The proportions were then compared to the renowned ratio.
Three Old Arches, the Grade I-listed building based on Bridge Street forming part of the famous Chester Rows, scored 99%, making it the second highest-scoring structure in the entire study. Formerly known as St. Michael’s Arcade, St Michael’s Row dates back to 1912 and was the second highest-scoring building in Chester with 89.5%, followed closely by Chester Library with 83.9%.
Based on its buildings and the golden ratio, Chester scored 83.7% overall, beating off stiff competition from Venice in second place, and UK capital city London in third.
