评论人士和政客们吹嘘伦敦的人文景观已有多年，现在他们得到了“铁证”支持：伦敦是世界上最具文化活力的城市。

It has long been a boast of pundits¹ and politicians but now it has been backed up by hard evidence – London has emerged as the world’s most culturally vibrant² city.

一份报告显示，与纽约、巴黎、上海和东京的文化魅力相比，英国首都伦敦几乎在所有领域都处于领先地位。

A report comparing London’s cultural attractions with those of New York, Paris, Shanghai and Tokyo shows that the British capital is ahead of the rest in virtually all categories.

伦敦发展署(London Development Agency)报告发现，与其它所有对手相比，伦敦拥有更多的国立博物馆、更多的音乐演出和音乐场所、更多的公共美术馆以及更多的大型剧场。

It has more national museums, more musical performances and venues³, more public art galleries and more major theatres than all its competitors, the report by the London Development Agency has found.

伦敦市长肯?利文斯通(Ken⁴ Livingstone)表示，正是伦敦的文化优势，才使其成为一个了不起的世界都市。“没有人到伦敦来访问这里的银行家。城市让人怀念之处，不在于它们的经济，而在于它们的文化成就，”他在该报告昨日发布之际表示。

Ken Livingstone, mayor of London, said it was London’s cultural pre-eminence that made it a great world city. “Nobody comes to London to visit its bankers. Cities are not remembered for their economies, but for what they achieve culturally,” he said at the report’s launch yesterday.

利文斯通还宣布一只140万英镑的新基金，用于资助各机构面向2012年奥运会开发新的文化项目。

Mr Livingstone also announced a new ￡1.4m fund for organisations to develop new cultural projects in the build-up to the 2012 Olympic Games.