09-24-2018, 12:12 PM
What Makes a Livable City?
The world's most livable city? Vienna, Austria.
Every year, The Economist publishes their Global Livability Index, their list of the most, and least, livable cities in the world and Vienna has found themselves as the king of the castle.
Three Canadian cities find themselves in the top 10, Calgary (4th), Vancouver (6th) and Toronto (7th). The list put out once a year assesses stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure in 140 different cities.
Interestingly enough there is a Canadian list of most livable cities put forth by Moneysense but it's quite different. They look at the 25 most livable cities in Canada and this year's winner is Oakville, jumping all the way up from spot number 15 last year.
What's most interesting is that neither Calgary nor Vancouver make the list and Toronto comes in at number 16. The difference between the two lists is significant.
Sadly, Waterloo Region did not make the cut.
To be honest, I'm a bit taken aback by the results. The top three on the Economist's list are Vienna, Melbourne (Australia) and Osaka (Japan). These are three urban centers. Calgary, while having an urban core has more of a suburban vibe to it by comparison. The Conversation even goes as far as to call Calgary "the poster city of suburban sprawl."
So with such significantly different lists of the most livable cities, I ask you this: What makes a livable city?
The world's most livable city? Vienna, Austria.
Every year, The Economist publishes their Global Livability Index, their list of the most, and least, livable cities in the world and Vienna has found themselves as the king of the castle.
Three Canadian cities find themselves in the top 10, Calgary (4th), Vancouver (6th) and Toronto (7th). The list put out once a year assesses stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure in 140 different cities.
Interestingly enough there is a Canadian list of most livable cities put forth by Moneysense but it's quite different. They look at the 25 most livable cities in Canada and this year's winner is Oakville, jumping all the way up from spot number 15 last year.
What's most interesting is that neither Calgary nor Vancouver make the list and Toronto comes in at number 16. The difference between the two lists is significant.
Sadly, Waterloo Region did not make the cut.
To be honest, I'm a bit taken aback by the results. The top three on the Economist's list are Vienna, Melbourne (Australia) and Osaka (Japan). These are three urban centers. Calgary, while having an urban core has more of a suburban vibe to it by comparison. The Conversation even goes as far as to call Calgary "the poster city of suburban sprawl."
So with such significantly different lists of the most livable cities, I ask you this: What makes a livable city?