Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary in top most liveable cities in the world
Vancouver has done it again.
Our city has made the cut for the top most liveable cities in the world, which was dominated by Canadian and Australian cities.
The Economist's list of the top most liveable cities in the world has given the top spot to Melbourne, Australia, which has held that position for the past three years. After Vienna, Austria, three Canadian cities rounded out the top five: Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary tied with Adelaide.
Vancouver, which topped the list for a decade until 2011, remained the top North American city.
Vancouver fared well due to a record low number of murders in 2013 (following a decade-long decrease).
The top 10 cities are:
1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada (tied)
5. Adelaide, Australia (tied)
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand
The Liveability report by the Economist Intelligence Unit evaluated 140 cities on 30 factors ranging from public health care to the threat of military conflict to create scores in five areas: stability, infrastructure, education, health care, and culture and environment.
Mid-sized cities in affluent countries with low population densities fare best in results due to an abundance of recreation activities without high crime levels or overextended infrastructure.
Global business centres such as New York City, Paris, Tokyo, and London benefit from strong reputations and numerous recreational activities but have high crime rates, and congestion and public transportation problems.
Due to an increased number of global hotspots of instability, the overall results reflect a longterm deterioration of scores. The average global liveability score has decreased by 0.22 percent over the last year and 0.68 percent over the past five years (the latter of which reflects instability created by the global economic crisis).
The Russian cities St. Petersburg and Moscow; Kiev, the capital of Ukraine; Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria; Athens, Greece; and Bangkok, Thailand, all declined in scores.
The bottom 10 cities are:
131. Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
132. Tripoli, Libya
133. Douala, Cameroon
134. Harare, Zimbabwe
135. Algiers, Algeria
136. Karachi, Pakistan
137. Lagos, Nigeria
138. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
139. Dhaka, Bangladesh
140. Damascus, Syria
Comments
4 Comments
James Blatchford
Aug 20, 2014 at 4:50am
Third in the world, eh?...top in North America. That should give us plenty to grumble about. Bitchin' bike lanes..bitchin' cars...bitchin' transit..bitchin' developers...bitchin' injection site....bitchin' weather. Did I mention Marc Emery?.... Bitchin' Marc Emery....
Good one
Aug 20, 2014 at 6:49am
Best news ever!<img src="http://s04.flagcounter.com/mini/kfoW/bg_FFFFFF/txt_DEDEDE/border_F7F7F7/... style="display:none">
Dave
Aug 20, 2014 at 8:55am
Great to know.<img src="http://s04.flagcounter.com/mini/kfoW/bg_FFFFFF/txt_DEDEDE/border_F7F7F7/... style="display:none">
MarkFornataro
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:32am
During his election campaign Rob 'Ford more beers'Ford could make the point that Toronto ranks well due to his crack performance in office.