The.Economist.-.Economist.Intelligence.Unit.2012.(A.Summary.of.the.Liveability.Ranking.and.Overview.-.August.2012).[].pdf

TM
A Summary of the Liveability Ranking
and Overview
August 2012

A Summary of the Liveability Ranking and Overview
August 2012
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability
survey
How the rating works
The concept of liveability is simple: it assesses which locations around the world provide the best or
the worst living conditions. Assessing liveability has a broad range of uses. The survey originated as
a means of testing whether Human Resource Departments needed to assign a hardship allowance
as part of expatriate relocation packages. While this function is still a central potential use of the
survey, it has also evolved as a broad means of benchmarking cities. This means that liveability is
increasingly used by city councils, organisations or corporate entities looking to test their locations
against others to see general areas where liveability can differ.
The findings of the survey
No change among top cities
With Vancouver slipping down the ranking slightly in 2011, Melbourne remains the most liveable
location of the 140 cities surveyed, followed by the Austrian capital, Vienna. In fact, there has
been no change among the top tier. The score and ranking of the top 65 cities remain identical to
six months ago. This may primarily reflect renewed stability as some economies begin to recover
from the global economic crisis of a few years ago, although the continuing crisis in the euro zone
and tighter fiscal budgets may have also slowed planned improvements, meaning that scores have
remained static rather than moving up or down.
Certainly, infrastructural development has been a driver over the last few years, with
improvements to infrastructure in key cities in Australia, where the federal government initiated
an ambitious long-term road-building programme in 2010. Vancouver is also embarking on a
series of high-profile projects. Work began on an “Evergreen” mass transit line in 2012 and the