Brighton & Hove has ranked first in a new index assessing creative activity across major UK cities, placing ahead of London and Edinburgh.
The research, conducted by UK-based flexible workspace company Co-space, analysed a range of indicators, including the number of galleries, theatres and museums per 100,000 residents, as well as art schools, festivals, creative jobs and registered creative businesses.
Brighton & Hove received an overall score of 10 out of 10. According to the study, the city has 26 art galleries and 7.45 theatres per 100,000 residents, along with 4.21 museums per 100,000.
It also recorded 1,709 events and festivals and 383 creative jobs. The report noted that the city has 19 art schools, one of the lower totals among those ranked.
London placed second with a score of 9.14, recording the highest number of creative jobs (4,814) and art schools (110) overall. Edinburgh ranked third with 7.93, followed by Manchester (5.32) and Leicester (4.97).
The top 10 also included Coventry, Derby, Bournemouth, Belfast and Bradford.
Co-space said the index was compiled using data from sources including the Office for National Statistics, Companies House, local authorities and arts bodies. Indicators were standardised by population size and combined to produce a score out of 10. Data was collected in February 2026.
The findings suggest that creative activity is distributed across a range of regional centres as well as larger metropolitan areas.
