Geneva: just short of perfect, says the Economist Intelligence Unit
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva and Zurich are not among the 10 most liveable cities in the world, according to the annual survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), although they do rank 11 and 12, with scores over 95 percent. Vancouver, Canada holds the top slot for the fifth year in a row with 98 percent.
But to say the Swiss cities are not faring badly in the survey “is an understatement in extreme,” Jon Copestake, editor of the report published 21 February told GenevaLunch. “The top tier of liveability is any city with a score of over 80 percent. Geneva and Zurich achieve scores well over this and less than 5 percent below a perfect score.”
The only weakness they might have may “relate to cultural availability—the availability of good quality theatre, music or sports events compared to larger cities,” Copestake notes.
Vancouver a breath away from perfect
Vancouver had an unchanged score in the annual rankings: 98, based on an assessment of 30 factors that include stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. A score of 100 would make a city “perfect” whereas a 1 would render it “intolerable”.
Harare, Zimbabwe is at the other extreme of the scale from Vancouver. The report notes that it “is the lowest-scoring city at just 37.5%. Despite celebrating 30 years of independence in April 2010, the situation remains challenging across all indicators. Despite hopes of elections in 2011, stability and healthcare scores of just 25% and 20.8% respectively highlight a bleak situation.”
The EIU survey is one of two widely regarded reports that are designed to help companies determine compensation packages for employees working abroad. The other is the Mercer “quality of living” report where Zurich and Geneva ranked second and third in 2010.
How and where liveability thrives
City Mayors in February 2010 ran an article about the previous year’s EIU survey where it noted that 8 of the top 10 cities are in English-speaking countries. [italics theirs] “The EIU report, which describes the concept of liveability as simple, is written for business people from western countries and used to work out hardship allowances as part of an expatriate’s relocation package. The report’s authors say that the survey quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide. Seen from such a western perspective, it is therefore not suprising that the survey’s lowest ranked cities are all in developing countries.”
Copestake told GenevaLunch that the English-speaking factor should be kept in perspective: “The top 10 is largely English speaking because it is largely made up of cities from two countries—Canada and Australia.” Both have very specific conditions that help liveability thrive, he points out. “They have mid-sized cities, large distances between cities and a low overall population density. As developed world locations this lends itself to liveability—they have a developed infrastructure which is not overburdened with people but are large enough locations to support a strong cultural availability.
“This is also a contributory factor for the reason Swiss cities do well. If the information was sorted by country it would be that only 3 of the top 10 countries are English speaking,” a much lower indication of bias, says Copestake.
Coffee at Zurich train station: charming old with the new
London, England (GenevaLunch) – Zurich has another feather in its cap, after being selected as the world’s most livable city by the latest edition of Monocle magazine in London. Copenhagen is number two and Tokyo number three. Poor Geneva is relegated to slot number 24 out of 25, down one place from 2008, but cheered on for its easy access to lake and mountain as its main assets. What they say about Zurich: “And in this year’s winner is Zurich, where the city’s investment in tranpsort is remarkable” and the main station makeover is the key asset mentioned.
Monocle’s list dates back to 2007, making it a relative newcomer in the cities-we-love lists business. Mercer does it as a quality of life list for businesses and their employees and The Economist Intelligence Unit does it for its readers, ranking cities by quantifying “the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle.” The EIU list, which came out 11 June 2009, ranks Geneva eighth and Zurich tenth. It gives six of the top 10 slots to North American cities, whereas Monocle sniffs at them and has only one in its top 25. It counts the number of cinemas and other comfort factors for its list.
London, England (Economist Intelligence Unit) – The annual Economist liveability survey of 140 cities worldwide ranks Vancouver in first place with an almost perfect 98 score out of 100. There are four European cities among the top 10. Vienna is in second place, Helsinki in seventh, just ahead of eighth-tied Geneva, Sydney and Zurich.
