Downtown Los Angeles has been ranked among the least vibrant urban centers on the planet in a damning new global survey that raises fresh questions about the future of the struggling city.

The stark assessment comes from Gensler's 2026 City Pulse report, which found that Los Angeles trails far behind many of its international rivals when it comes to the energy, activity and appeal of its downtown core.

Out of 75 major cities evaluated worldwide, Los Angeles landed near the bottom of the rankings for vibrancy, with only about 65 percent of residents describing downtown as vibrant.

That figure lagged well behind cities including New York, Chicago, Sydney and Shanghai, all of which recorded scores above 80 percent.

The findings paint a troubling picture for a city that has spent years trying to lure workers, shoppers and tourists back into its urban center following the upheaval of the pandemic era.

Gensler surveyed roughly 35,000 residents around the world, asking them to evaluate various aspects of city life. 

Los Angeles ranked as the 20th-lowest city globally for vibrancy and the 11th-lowest among the 34 American cities included in the study.

Urban planners say the results reflect a downtown still struggling to recover from years of office departures, retail vacancies and lingering concerns about safety.

The report comes after years of high-profile corporate departures from California, with companies citing taxes, regulation, crime concerns, housing costs and remote-work trends as reasons for relocating operations elsewhere.

Major firms including Chevron, Oracle and Tesla have shifted headquarters or significant operations out of California in recent years.

Downtown LA has been particularly vulnerable to the post-pandemic office slump, with large employers reducing office footprints and leaving behind millions of square feet of vacant workspace.

City data shows the number of businesses reporting departures from downtown Los Angeles has risen sharply over the past two years, adding to concerns about the district's long-term economic health.

Empty office towers and shuttered storefronts have become increasingly common sights across parts of downtown, fueling concerns that investment and foot traffic are flowing elsewhere.

Kelly Farrell, managing director of Gensler's Los Angeles office, said the city's biggest challenge is getting businesses and workers back into the downtown district.

'LA's kind of central problem is that businesses have left LA. We need them to bring the offices back in,' Farrell said. 

'Bring the people back in so they're staying after work and interacting with those businesses that are in the area.'

While some neighborhoods within downtown continue to attract visitors and investment, the broader district faces a perception problem that experts say has become increasingly difficult to shake.

The report identified several ingredients that successful downtowns tend to share, including a mix of residential housing, office space, retail stores, walkability and strong cultural attractions.

Los Angeles possesses many of those assets on paper. Downtown remains home to government offices, financial institutions, sports venues, museums and entertainment destinations. 

Yet many of those advantages have been overshadowed by a steady exodus of office tenants and businesses in recent years.

Data from the Los Angeles Office of Finance showed an increase in companies leaving the downtown area over the past two years after a temporary slowdown following the pandemic.

The vacancy problem has become particularly visible in the city's Financial District.

Commercial real estate firm CBRE reported that nearly 40 percent of office space in the area is effectively empty, while roughly 30 percent of retail space sits vacant.

The report found that the key to a thriving downtown is not simply attracting visitors but encouraging them to remain there.

Researchers concluded that the amount of time people spend downtown is a more meaningful measure of vitality than raw visitor numbers alone.

That remains a significant challenge for Los Angeles, which has struggled for years to convince residents to spend more time in the city center.

Concerns about crime and public safety continue to weigh heavily on public perception.

Business owners have frequently pointed to vandalism, robberies and assaults as reasons for relocating elsewhere, while some residents remain reluctant to visit due to fears about safety and a perceived lack of police visibility.

At the same time, law enforcement officials argue conditions are improving.

Los Angeles Police Department Captain Kelly Muniz said in April that crime in the area had fallen by 10 percent compared with the previous year.

Homelessness even started improving recently in LA County, with the number of unhoused people dropping in 2024 and 2025, according to the point-in-time count. As of last year, there were an estimated 72,000 unhoused people in the county.

Even so, the Trump administration has been attempting to overhaul the way LA and other places across California address homelessness. 

The administration wants to move funds from permanent housing into temporary shelters and prioritize housing programs that require sobriety.

Farrell believes a stronger downtown population could further accelerate that trend.

'One of the best things we can do for safety is have an abundance of population,' she said.

'You will see right now that we have a lot of great ground-floor retail that's empty. As that gets fuller, we typically see that crime starts to go down with it.'

Despite the gloomy ranking, Farrell stressed that fortunes can change quickly.

She noted that perceptions of vibrancy often fluctuate significantly from one survey year to the next and expressed confidence that a return of offices and workers could dramatically improve downtown's standing.

The Daily Mail has contacted Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass for additional comment.