Toronto ties Tokyo as the seventh most liveable city in the world
By Newinhomes on Aug 15, 2018
The Economist Intelligence Unit released its Global Liveability Index 2018, and three Canadian cities made it into the top 10!
The cities are ranked based on 30 factors, separated into five categories; stability, healthcare, culture & environment, education, and infrastructure. Keep in mind the ratings are based on relative liveability, meaning the actual liveability standards didn’t have to change for a city to rise or fall on the list.
“Of the 140 surveyed cities, 49% registered negative changes in their overall liveability rank in the past six months and 34% experienced positive movements (the rest did not record any change),” reads the report. “Yet, despite the total number of negative movements outweighing the positive ones, the rankings show that overall liveability across all cities surveyed increased by 0.7% in the past six months and 0.9% in the past year.”
Vienna dethroned Melbourne, which has held the top spot for the last seven years. Vienna’s overall rating is 99.1, scoring 100 across the board, except in Culture & Environment where it scored a 96.3.
“Although both Melbourne and Vienna have registered improvements in liveability over the last six months, increases in Vienna’s ratings, particularly in the stability category, have been enough for the city to overtake Melbourne,” says the report.
According to the findings, the most liveable Canadian city is Calgary, placing fourth with a 97.5 overall rating, scoring perfect in all categories except in culture & environment, where it scored 90. Vancouver came in sixth with an overall rating of 97.3, receiving 100 in three categories and a 95 in stability and 92.9 in infrastructure.
Toronto placed seventh, tying with Tokyo, with an overall rating of 97.2. Toronto scored 200 in stability, healthcare, and education, and came in with a 97.2 in culture & environment, and an 89.3 in infrastructure.
“Global business centres tend to be victims of their own success,” says the report. “The ‘big city buzz’ that they enjoy can overstretch infrastructure and cause higher crime rates. New York (57th), London (48th) and Paris (19th) are all prestigious hubs with a wealth of recreational activities, but all suffer from higher levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems than are deemed comfortable.”
With the recent surge in shootings in Toronto, we wonder if Toronto’s 100 stability rating is at risk for the next Global Liveability Index. And if traffic congestion worsens downtown and on our major highways, the infrastructure rating could drop, too.
It may be exciting news that there are three Canadian cities in the top 10, but don’t get too excited. Looking back to 2014, Toronto came in fourth, placing in the top five with Vancouver and Calgary. Vancouver was in third in 2014 and Calgary in fifth.
So, in the last few years, Toronto has actually dropped a few places but still remains one of the most liveable cities in the world! We’re proud to call Toronto home and hope you are, too!
