Most livable cities: Hong Kong's on top but Vancouver's not?

by Craig Takeuchi on Jul 5, 2012 at 4:39 pm
Hong Kong ranked number one on a new livability index, but Vancouver wasn't even in the running, according to new criteria.
Photo from Shutterstock

Is Vancouver no longer one of the world's most livable cities in the world?

Fret not, local boosterati—the city wasn't even considered for a new index evaluating the most livable cities in the world.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (which publishes the biannual Liveability Index that Vancouver has topped for almost a decade) held a competition, in conjunction with the data-sharing company BuzzData, requesting innovative and fresh ways to interpret their data.

Architect and urban planner Filippo Lovato won the Best City Contest (and $10,000) with his Spatially Adjusted Liveability Index. His new index examined the biggest and most geographically diverse cities, thereby reducing the list from the usual 140 to 70.

Consequently, Melbourne, Vancouver, and Vienna (which all regularly vie for first place) were excluded.

Lovato also added a sixth category (spatial characteristics) to the pre-existing categories. The new category included seven urban planning indicators: sprawl, green space, natural assets, cultural assets, connectivity, isolation, and pollution.

In the absence of the usual contenders, Hong Kong took the top spot.

And what's more, European cities, rather than Australian and Canadian ones, dominated the top 10, including Amsterdam (in second place), Paris, Stockholm, Berlin, and Munich. Japan also ranked favourably, with Osaka in third place and Tokyo at number 10.

The sole North American and Canadian city to make the top 10 was Toronto, which came in at number eight, due to weak scores for isolation and cultural assets. (Toronto ranked number four on the 2011 EIU Global Livability Report, one spot after Vancouver.)

Here are the top 10 cities on the remixed index:

1. Hong Kong
2. Amsterdam
3. Osaka
4. Paris
5. Sydney
6. Stockholm
7. Berlin
8. Toronto
9. Munich
10. Tokyo

You can follow Craig Takeuchi on Twitter at twitter.com/cinecraig.

Do you think Vancouver remains one of the world's most livable cities?

Yes 38%
47 votes
No 51%
63 votes
Unsure 11%
14 votes
Comments (15) Add New Comment
oh oh
Jul 5, 2012 at 8:25 pm
maybe they just confused Hong Kong with Vancouver, what??its possible, except for the massive highrises and 300sq ft condos (wait..we are building those too), we are identical.
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Canadian Xpat
Jul 6, 2012 at 2:23 am
For pure physical livability, when it is not raining Vancouver is certainly a top 10 city. It is however, not a global city especially when it comes to culture, size, government, or business. It can't compare on scale with a place like Hong Kong, New York or London. Van's best days are ahead of it. Perhaps, one day it will have the cultural, government and business institutions and can genuinely compete but that day isn't today.
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3D in 2D
Jul 6, 2012 at 11:52 am
Vancouver is a resort, not a city. Chill out and enjoy it.
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Aki
Jul 6, 2012 at 11:56 am
No surprise here. Vancouver is full of people that think they live in a world class city, despite the fact they don't.
Once you do a bit of traveling you'll come to the conclusion that Vancouver is merely a mediocre city.
No culture, no fun.
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@3D
Jul 6, 2012 at 12:16 pm
vancouver a resort??????..LMAO, oh you need to get out of this city more. is it world class??,, NO, its just a city,
try to find a place to eat,...(after midnight) or grab a coffee (except for the 2 blenz downtown) after 10PM. especially during the week...impossible in Vancouver. starbucks closes at 630PM LMAO, yup thats progress
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miguel
Jul 6, 2012 at 1:05 pm
I've lived in 8th place Toronto. I think I'll stay in this losing place.
Miguel
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@Canadian Xpat
Jul 6, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Vancouver's best days aren't ahead, they're behind. Back in the day no one cared that this was just a regional little city placed among amazing jewels of the natural world. It was just a little city, nothing more. You had your neighborhoods, your hangouts, and you saw a lot of the same people year after year.

Now its rootless and culturally eroded, everything traded in for money and greased with bullshit. All the little things that made Vancouver great have been thrown out the window, so much so that new arrivals don't even know what they ever were, and are constantly confused as to what this place is and what it's all about... the answer is: Nothing.

Vancouver's development the last few years is a perfect allegory for material growth causing cultural and spiritual decay. It's a beautful, hollow shell of a city.
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who fucking cares
Jul 6, 2012 at 1:32 pm
if you like to live in a city, why does it matter what other people think of it? this is a huge problem with vancouver: it's self-conscious and has low self-esteem. vancouver is a fucking try-hard.
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!
Jul 6, 2012 at 5:26 pm
As far as getting to the beach and Mountains, Vancouver's transportation is good for that, it doesn't take too long. Transportation is pretty good although infrastructure still has a long way to go. I was recently in Manhattan, even from Midtown to Coney Island on the subway would still take one and half hours. I stayed in New Jersey and I couldn't believe I missed Vancouver. Even if you drive there are tolls everywhere at about $8-$12 each! So what city is good for people who don't drive=difficult to live in a suburb?
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James G
Jul 6, 2012 at 10:10 pm
I enjoy Hong Kong for what it offers but livability might be expected to include breathable air. Hong Kong's air quality is abysmal.
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Jimmy Blunt
Jul 6, 2012 at 11:41 pm
One conspiracy says that the US doesn't want any more mainlanders living in the US, so they want to deviate them to Hong Kong. This is an interesting approach, as many know that the ethnic tension between native HKers and Chinese new immigrants is increasing.
Vancouver is like a little HK, but you have to know that HK is a real city and Vancouver isn't. Both cities face gang problems. Vancouver has lower pollution though, and better climate.
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Homeward Bound
Jul 7, 2012 at 1:08 am
What fascinates me is that people in Vancouver seem to be completely obsessed with these liveability surveys. I have lived in many cities throughout the world and to be honest, of less beauty than Vancouver. Why is Vancouver so concerned what everyone else thinks?
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DR-Montreal
Jul 7, 2012 at 11:43 am
I was never so happy in life as when I left Vancouver having been raised there--for good. The drizzle, the strange isolated feel it has viz the mountains, with "the Interior," and the graceless push and shove to be as far west near the better aesthetics as possible, as opposed to the "trackless wastes" of soggy Burnaby, Richmond, new Westminster, Surrey or Pitt meadows. Sorry! Still have friends there and like to visit but... the ongoing "celebration of specialness" going on there leaves me cold... and wet.
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LK-Wright
Jul 7, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Vancouver has developed a very unhealthy obsession with this livability crap. Take care of your own and focus more on creating jobs and affordable housing for your long-term residence, not the rich people elsewhere who have expensive and bland tastes.
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Sheeple
Jul 8, 2012 at 10:39 am
The Economist Intelligence Unit is a Joke last year they downgraded Vancouver because of a Highway on fucking Vancouver Island.

BC is so stupid to let Communist Chinese to buy BOTH our land and Resources (Mining).

Do you think the Communist would let us buy land and Natural Resources for Mining etc in China? Yeah No!

I have traveled to most of the Great Cities in the world most don't compare to the livability in Vancouver.
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