Singapore more liveable than New York, less so than HK

The Lion City has been ranked the world’s 53rd most liveable city, in the latest survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Republic scored highly in stability and infrastructure, and its emphasis on healthcare and education also earned it top marks.

However, it did not fare as well in areas such as culture and living environment.

While it is ranked behind Hong Kong and Tokyo in Asia, for example, Singapore edged out London and New York, which were both pulled down by their crumbling infrastructure.

The EIU’s liveability rating, part of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, aims to quantify the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide.

Each city is assigned a score for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across the five broad categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

The annual survey uses research involving resident experts and EIU’s analysts.

Earning top spot in this year’s poll is Vancouver, which scored well across all categories.

“The forthcoming Winter Games (also) contribute to a strong score in the cultural and sporting events category” for the city, said Mr Jon Copestake, editor of the report.

In contrast, Zimbabwe’s ongoing social and economic crisis has made its capital Harare the worst city to live in.

Source : Today – 13 Feb 2010