Author: Eman Katem
Three of Canada’s largest cities — Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto — continue to rank among the top 10 most liveable cities in the world in The Economist’s latest survey.
The three cities are the only North American cities in the top 10 of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s 2018 Global Liveability Index.
In comparison to the EIU’s 2017 survey results, Calgary replaced Toronto in 4th place, whereas Vancouver and Toronto dropped three places to 6th and 7th place respectively.
Austria’s capital city, Vienna, was named the world’s most liveable city for the first time, displacing Melbourne, Australia, for the top spot.
The EIU is the research and analysis unit of The Economist Group, which also operates the popular weekly magazine.
The Global Liveability Index is published annually by the EIU and measures living conditions in 140 cities around the world based on five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Each city receives a livability score based on qualitative and quantitative factors under each of the five categories. If a city achieves a rating of 100 in a specific category it means the city is ideal; a rating of 1 is considered intolerable.
The factors considered under each category are as follows:
- Stability: This category examines the prevalence of crime, threat of terror/ military conflict or civil unrest.
- Healthcare: This category focuses on the availability/quality of private and public healthcare, over-the-counter drugs and other general healthcare indicators.
- Culture and Environment: This category measures various indicators that range from temperature rating, climate, level of corruption, social or religious restrictions, food/drink, and other social indicators.
- Education: The category looks at the availability/quality of private and public education.
- Infrastructure: This category is an assessment of the quality of roads, public transportation, availability of housing, and other indicators.
Source: https://www.cicnews.com/2018/08/calgary-vancouver-and-toronto-among-worlds-10-most-livable-cities-in-2018-0811039.html#gs.eO7YLbM