Originally published by: https://vancouver.citynews.ca/
Vancouver has firmly cemented itself as North America’s most liveable city, as it placed fifth in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index of 2023.
For the second year in a row, the city has placed within the top five, but this year, it beat out Calgary for Canada’s most liveable city.
According to the index, Vancouver scored the maximum 100 in healthcare and education, with a respectable 96.4 and 95 for infrastructure and stability, respectively.
Overall, Vancouver’s score came out to a solid 97.3 — just 1.1 behind the most liveable city in the world — Vienna, Austria.
Copenhagen, Denmark, Melbourne, and Sydney in Australia, came in second, third, and fourth, respectively, rounding out the top five.
“Vienna (Austria) tops the rankings for 2023, owing to its winning combination of stability, good culture and entertainment, reliable infrastructure, and exemplary education and health services. It has occupied this position regularly over the past several years, with only the COVID-10 pandemic causing the city to vacate its place at the top spot,” the index said.
Calgary placed seventh, with Toronto rounding out the third Canadian city in the top 10, coming in at 9th place.
“In the Canadian cities … scores for stability are up compared with last year, when these cities were impacted by anti-vaccine protests,” the index said. It adds that declines in stability across the globe are putting liveability at risk.
“In many cities, such as Athens (Greece), stability scores have fallen this year because of greater civil unrest. Elsewhere, inflation, dissatisfaction with working conditions, and occasional shortages of goods have sparked wage strikes and protests.”
The index notes protests in France over pension reforms have hurt its city rank, along with countries like Isreal, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Peru being affected by waves of protests “fuelled by high petrol and food prices or allegations of government corruption.”
“Strains on public order and economic headwinds have also increased instances of crime in some cities, and these will continue to be a risk for the future. All of this suggests that stability scores in our Liveability Index are unlikely to recover quickly,” the index said.
Damascus, Syria, placed 173rd in the ranking, with an index of 30.7. Karachi, Lagos, Algiers, and Tripoli, rounded out the bottom five cities.
