Cape Town does it again!

Cape Town has once again made it onto another global list for its exceptional beauty. This time, Forbes magazine has named Cape Town one of the twelve most beautiful cities in the world.

The Forbes list, released earlier this year, puts the Mother City on a par with Paris, Vancouver, Sydney, Florence, Venice, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Cambridge, Tokyo and London.

Cape Town is the only city from a developing nation to have made the cut, and the only one on the African continent.

Forbes was particularly impressed by Cape Town’s open spaces. According to environmental engineer Raymond Levitt, the city was also singled out for its small ecological footprint compared to sprawling metropolises like Tokyo and New York.

The list is drawn up in consultation with experts from a range of relevant fields, including architecture, urban planning and sustainable development.

These experts included Amanda Reynolds of the UK-based Urban Design Group, architect Michael Kaufman of Goettsch Partners in Chicago, and Raymond Levitt, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University. UK urban designer and architect Tony McGuirk, J Hugh O'Donnell, CEO of engineering firm MMM International, and Ken Drucker of the New York office of architectural firm HOK also provided input.

The view of Cape Town from the Table Mountain cable car station .A 2010 Fifa World Cup host city, Cape Town is gearing up for the tourist influx with a host of infrastructure upgrades, such as the Integrated Rapid Transit system and the impressive new Cape Town stadium and its associated Green Point Common, which is being developed now that the stadium is fully functional. The common is expected to become an important social gathering site once complete.

Cape Town also hosts a number of other popular sporting events, such as the annual Cape Argus and Cape Epic cycle tours and the Two Oceans ultramarathon. Participants from all over the world descend on the city to pit their skills and endurance against the best athletes in these taxing sporting disciplines.

Renowned English sea navigator Sir Francis Drake once referred to Cape Town as the fairest cape in the world. The city has an abundance of unspoilt beaches and is home to one of South Africa's most famous landmarks, Table Mountain.

The mountain is part of the 30 000ha Table Mountain National Park, administered by South African National Parks, and is home to a wide range of animals and birds. The park is also popular with thrill-seekers who are able to hike, climb, cave, and base-jump from its many cliffs.

Further inland, the Cape winelands offer award-winning wines from many world-renowned estates, some of them possessing an ancestry that dates right back to the early days of the Cape’s colonisation by the Dutch.

Cape Town is also known for its bustling nightlife, highly rated hotels and fine restaurants. Some of the top establishments in the country are to be found here, a number of which have also won international acclaim.

To view the full list, go to www.forbes.com