It’s a title that any city would love to wear, the World’s Most Liveable City. Nothing is guaranteed to get more discussion and debate than this accolade, as there are too many factors to really definitively decide this.
Then there is the question of being objective, my preferences and must-haves for a city are going to be enormously different from those on the other side of the world, and potentially someone even living across the road from me.
Today we going to get deep into Global Liveability Ranking and what those metrics can mean for cities vying for that top spot.
Infrastructure is a pretty obvious ranking component in the Global Liveability Ranking.
Assessors are going to be looking at cities through a digital twin city model or a tool like it to get a holistic idea of how the infrastructure of a city operates.
Specifically, the road network, public transport, international links, energy provision, water provision, and quality of telecommunications will be judged.
Stability is a harder metric to nail down, and it can be something that changes annually.
Look at the events that commenced in 2020 – what does stability really look like now? Assessors will be looking at the prevalence of petty crime, violent crime, military conflict, threat, terror, and civil unrest.
If you look at the places that were named the World’s Most Liveable City, you can see that they are always destinations that have no present or recent history of serious crime.
Healthcare is an obvious one, but the healthcare statistics of various cities might actually surprise you.
Wealthy countries do not always have great healthcare systems, and environmental factors can also have an impact.
Assessors will look at the availability and quality of private and public healthcare, general healthcare indicators, and the availability of over-the-counter drugs.
Culture is a critical component, otherwise, we are simply looking at hard facts and not embracing the unique personality and beauty of a city’s culture.
It also takes into account whether a culture is oppressive. This is perhaps one of the ranking items that are the most contentious, as culture means different things to different people and demographics will have an impact on what is a good or better culture.
Assessors will look at the level of corruption, social and religious freedom, censorship, availability of sport, consumer goods and services, food, and drink.
An environment will dictate the direct liveability of a city, and so this is a component that assessors will look at.
Most notable, are the humidity/temperature rating and the discomfort of climate to travelers. Sustainability is also a factor and how likely the environment is to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
With natural disasters happening with greater frequency as a result of climate change, it will be interesting to see if the environment becomes a more weighted component.
Just like the healthcare metric, education does not automatically get a high rating in richer countries (although this is typically the case).
Education is a core metric for most people who are considering a new home, and it becomes even more important when individuals have children.
Assessors will look at the availability of private education, the quality of private education, and general public education indicators.
You can understand why education and government can be so linked as education can have an influence on population and migration.
How does your city shape up under these Global Liveability Rankings? If you haven’t been keeping an eye on these yearly round-ups, be sure to see what city gets the coveted position and explore why for some context over what is the global benchmark.
