2007-06-06 10:52:40
Vancouver is 'best place to live'
2007-05-28
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin raises his glass during a speech
Canadians have a lot to toast in terms of liveability, the EIU reckons
Vancouver is the world's best place to live, a survey by the Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU) has found.
The EIU ranked 127 cities in terms of personal risk, infrastructure and the
availability of goods and services.
All the cities that fell into the top "liveability" bracket were based in
Canada, Australia and Western Europe.
The worst places were Algiers in Algeria, and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea
because "many aspects of daily life present challenges", the EIU said.
Safe havens?
Canadian cities scored well, as did Austria's Vienna and Switzerland's Geneva,
because they are not seen as targets for terror attacks.
TOP TEN
Vancouver
Melbourne
Vienna
Geneva
Perth
Adelaide
Sydney
Zurich
Toronto
Calgary
Source: EIU
The main uncertainty for people living in those cities was climate-related, the
EIU said.
"In the current global political climate, it is no surprise that the most
desirable destinations are those with the lower perceived threat of terrorism,"
said Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU report.
The survey has produced a mixed picture of the world's cities. London was
ranked in the 10th group, on a par with Dublin and Los Angeles, but one place
below Manchester, four behind Berlin, five lower than Tokyo, and six off
Helsinki, Frankfurt and Stockholm.
Bottom 10 cities
Tehran
Douala
Harare
Abidjan
Phnom Penh
Lagos
Karachi
Dhaka
Algiers
Port Moresby
Source: EIU
In Latin America, "no city manages to present ideal living conditions, neither
do any fall into the category where extreme difficulties are faced", the EIU
said.
Montevideo in Uruguay, Santiago in Chile and Buenos Aires in Argentina offer
the region's best conditions. Bogota in Colombia and Caracas in Venezuela score
the least favourably.
In Asia, cities in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and Taiwan all score
well, as do Australia's main hubs.
Africa and the Middle East fare less well, with the EIU citing concerns about
terror attacks, and economic and political instability.
Some of the worst performing cities include Harare in Zimbabwe and Lagos in
Nigeria.