The corona pandemic has massively affected the quality of life in cities. The experts of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) gave very much lower marks in their first ranking after the outbreak of the crisis than before.
The average value of the metropolises examined fell by seven points in the “Global Liveability Index 2021”, which reaches up to 100 points. The new front runner took first place with 96 points. This result would not even have been enough for tenth place before the Corona crisis.
Cities with the best quality of life
The pandemic created new conditions in the ranking of the cities with the highest quality of life in 2021. One region of the world placed six of the ten metropolises in the top 10, twice as many as in the previous study.
Those responsible there reacted quickly to the threat and, for example, closed the borders early on, explained the advisory service EIU, which belongs to the British Economist Group. By acting quickly, the pandemic in these cities could have been contained more quickly and restrictions could have been lifted more quickly.
The EIU examined the quality of life in 140 cities around the world. The experts relied on their own evaluations as well as on data from the World Bank and Transparency International. The situation in the metropolises between February 22 and March 21, 2021 was examined. The ranking is made up of these categories:
1. Stability: 25% of the final grade (e.g. crime rate, terrorist threat, unrest)
2. Culture and environment: 25% (climate, corruption, state censorship, sporting and cultural events)
3. Health care: 20% (including the quality of private and statutory health care)
4. Infrastructure: 20% (roads, public transport, quality of living conditions, supply of energy, water and telecommunications)
5. Education: 10% (private and public educational offers)
Ranking best cities in the world
According to the EIU, the analysis was supplemented by further indicators this year to show the response of local governments and administrations to the pandemic. This included continuing restrictions in public life and overburdened health systems.
According to the ranking, these cities offer the highest quality of life in the world around a year after the outbreak of the pandemic.
10. Brisbane
One of the Australian climbers was Brisbane. It was now in tenth place with 92.4 points in the index. Brisbane scored the maximum of one hundred points in two categories. This has been achieved in health care and education. The Australian city still performed comparatively well in its weakest category, infrastructure (85.7 points).
9. Melbourne & 8. Geneva
Geneva shared eighth place with Melbourne (92.5 points each). The city in Switzerland particularly impressed with the full number of points for the healthcare system. "It couldn't be better," said the experts about the infrastructure and education in Melbourne.
7. Zurich
Denmark and Austria have now dropped out of the top 10. Zurich came seventh with 92.8 points, although some social restrictions were still in force at the time of the study.
Like Geneva, the Swiss metropolis convinced with the full number of points for the health system. The analysts gave the education system in Switzerland a comparatively meager 83.3 points.
6. Perth
Perth was the only representative of the top 10 to receive three top marks - for health care, education and infrastructure. However, it also got the lowest individual mark: 78.2 points for “Culture & Environment”.
5. Wellington & 4. Tokyo
New Zealand was not in the top 10 at all in the 2019 leaderboard. This time two New Zealand metropolises moved into the top group. Tokyo received full marks for stability and health care. In the “Culture & Environment” category, however, the analysts only gave 84.0 points. New Zealand's capital only got top marks for education. In return, Wellington stayed above the 89 point mark in all areas.
3. Adelaide
The analysts praised, among other things, the international travel ban that Adelaide has imposed. Top grades for health and education helped here, as with most of the top 10 representatives from Australia, in the ascent. The worst individual grade was in Adelaide for “Culture & Environment” (83.8 points).
2. Osaka
This was ensured by two top marks given by the EIU experts for stability and health care. In view of closed facilities and hygiene restrictions in Osaka, as in all metropolises of the top 10, “Culture & Environment” was the weak point.
1. Auckland
According to the analysts, Auckland managed to contain the pandemic particularly quickly. As a result, the restrictions could have been lifted earlier than in other metropolises.
Auckland was only able to get the maximum number of points in the area of education. In return, 92.9 points for the infrastructure were the worst value in the individual categories. In the end, the index value was 96.0 points.
In the previous ranking, however, it would not have even made it to tenth place. Vienna had first place in 2019 and 2018 with the almost perfect grade of 99 each, 1 point scored. In the 2021 ranking, it was no longer enough for the former leader to make it into the top 10.
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