Vancouver is no longer the world’s third most livable city or the most livable city in North America, according to a new report from The Economist.
Vancouver has fallen to sixth place globally and is now behind Calgary in the ranking of North American cities.
Every year, the Economist Intelligence Unit looks at 140 cities around the world and ranks them according to living conditions. The cities are assessed in five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure and are given a score out of 100 for each of these.
Vancouver was the only city in the top 10 to get a perfect score in culture and environment. This measure considers temperatures, climate, corruption, social and religious restrictions, censorship, culture, sports, food and drink and consumer goods.
The city’s lowest score – 95 – was in the stability category. This category looks at the prevalence of both petty and violent crime and threats of terror, military conflict and civil unrest.
Calgary beat Vancouver in the stability score.
Overall, the world’s average livability score increased to 75.7 from 74.8 last year. The global score has increased over the past five years, which “suggests a gradual return to relative stability” after past threats of terrorism.
The 10 most livable cities in the world, according to the ranking, are:
- Vienna, Austria: 99.1;
- Melbourne, Australia: 98.4;
- Osaka, Japan: 97.7;
- Calgary, Canada: 97.5;
- Sydney, Australia: 97.4;
- Vancouver, Canada: 97.3;
- Toronto, Canada: 97.2;
- Tokyo, Japan: 97.2;
- Copenhagen, Denmark: 96.8; and
- Adelaide, Australia: 96.6.
This is the first time Vienna took top spot in the list.
The world’s least livable cities are Dakar, Senegal (48.3), Algiers, Algeria (44.1), Douala, Cameroon (44.0), Tripoli, Libya (42.9) and Harare, Zimbabwe (42.6).
@EmmaHampelBIV
