Vancouver tops list of most 'liveable' cities
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-10-06 08:52

LONDON - Vancouver in Canada is the world's most pleasant city in which to live, according to a survey of 127 destinations which assesses factors such as risk, infrastructure and goods and services.

At the other end of the table compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the thinktank arm of the London-based magazine, were Port Moresby, the dilapidated, crime-ridden capital of Papua New Guinea, and Algiers.

Overall, the vast majority of attractive destinations were in Europe, North America and Australia, with only Tokyo and Osaka sneaking into the top 20.

In contrast, African cities performed badly, with Pretoria and Johannesburg the highest-ranked at joint 85th.

Cities in Canada, Australia, Austria and Switzerland filled the entire top 10.

"In the current global political climate, it is no surprise that the most desirable destinations are those with a lower perceived threat of terrorism," said Jon Copestake, editor of the report.

The survey looked at almost 40 individual indicators in the categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure, giving percentage scores for problems and risks.

Vancouver, on Canada's Pacific coast, topped the table with a tally of just one percent, the effect of a small risk from personal crime. In contrast, Port Moresby and Algiers were marked at 66 percent, well above the 50 percent viewed as placing severe restrictions on lifestyle.

Almost half the cities surveyed scored 20 percent or less, meaning they were very easy to live in, the study said, reflecting the rapidly-developing infrastructure in many business centres.

But only three cities from eastern Europe and 13 from Asia fell into the category, and none at all from Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.

After Tokyo and Osaka, the next best-scoring city was Hong Kong in joint 41st, followed soon afterwards by Seoul and Taipei. For Chinese mainland, Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin were ranked equally at 70th.

Further down the table, Dhaka was third-last while Jakarta and Bombay were only a dozen or so places off the bottom.

In North America, US cities scored well despite losing out to Canada. Cleveland and Pittsburgh shared top honours in joint 26th, just above Honolulu.