Auckland among world’s most ‘mindful’ cities

Stuck in traffic on Auckland’s motorways, you could be forgiven for thinking the city’s residents are anything but mindful.

Honking, abrupt braking and a refusal to merge like a zip (damn you all) are hardly calm traits. But, according to the latest top 10 list, Auckland is the eighth most ’’mindful’’ city in the world.

The final list was put together by The World Economic Forum (WEF), and the did so by analysing various databases and took into account attributes including social tolerance, civic engagement, work-life balance, healthcare, life expectancy, safety, ecological footprint and income levels.

Vancouver came in sixth but as usual, it’s the progressive Scandinavians topping the charts.

The annual survey put Auckland

‘‘It took into account attributes including social tolerance, civic engagement, worklife balance, quality of healthcare, life expectancy and safety’’

as the fifth most expensive city in the world, climbing from ninth the year before as house prices skyrocketed and wages stagnated.

THE WORLD’S MOST MINDFUL CITIES 1. Aarhus - Denmark 2. Luzern - Switzerland 3. Reykjavik Iceland 4. Bergen - Norway 5. Turku Finland 6.Vancouver - Canada 7. Amsterdam - Netherlands 8. Auckland - New Zealand 9. Adelaide Australia 10. Malmo - Sweden