And The World’s Most Liveable City Is…
The folks at Monocle magazine have handed out their yearly rating of the world’s most liveable cities – and the bustling megalopolis of Tokyo has been crowned #1.
The city was praised by the London-based journal for its “defining paradox of heart-stopping size and concurrent feeling of peace and quiet”, which anyone that’s escaped the chaos at an onsen or strolled through Yoyogi Park can attest. Tokyo was placed second last year, but rocketed to top position due to a laundry list of metrics – from housing costs to the price of a cup of coffee, public safety to access to the outdoors.
“We’ve given extra marks to cities that limit their nannying and we’ve tried to give value to places where there’s something else we know is vital: freedom, grit, independence, a joy with life,” Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé says. “We’re frustrated with city councils that are too quick to say no, places where parents never let their children run free and capitals that seem opposed to the odd late night out.”
AWOL’S GUIDE TO THE REAL TOKYO
So how did our Aussie cities fare? Pretty well, actually. Sydney came in at #5 ahead of Stockholm, while Melbourne – which was last year named the world’s most liveable city in a similar poll conducted by Economist Intelligence Unit – pipped them at #4. But spare a thought for the USA, which only had one city on the list: the lush hipster haven of Portland, which just scraped in at #25. Poor New York.
Monocle Magazine’s most liveable cities:
25. Portland, OR, USA
24. Barcelona, Spain
23. Oslo, Norway
22. Geneva, Switzerland
21. Hamburg, Germany
20. Amsterdam, Netherlands
19. Hong Kong, China
18. Lisbon, Portugal
17. Auckland, New Zealand
16. Madrid, Spain
15. Paris, France
14. Kyoto, Japan
13. Singapore
12. Fukuoka, Japan
10. Copenhagen, Denmark (tied)
10. Zürich, Switzerland (tied)
9. Munich, Germany
8. Helsinki, Finland
7. Vancouver, Canada
6. Stockholm, Sweden
5. Sydney, Australia
4. Melbourne, Australia
3. Berlin, Germany
2. Vienna, Austria
1. Tokyo, Japan
(Lead image: Zooka Yung/Flickr)
