OUR WORLD-CLASS CITY
Sgt. Carey Nelson, left, and Cst. Jose Cives chat with a local man on Tuesday. Calgary is ranked the world’s fourth most-livable city, based partly on the safety of citizens.
Calgary has finished in fourth place in an annual ranking of the world’s most livable cities.
The 2018 index of global livability compiled by The Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Calgary behind the Austrian city of Vienna, Melbourne in Australia, and Osaka, Japan. The placement is slightly improved from last year’s report, when Calgary ranked fifth.
The rankings of 140 cities are determined based on 30 factors across five categories. This year, Calgary scored 97.5 out of 100, earning top marks in stability, health care, education and infrastructure, while it lost points in culture and environment.
“This is a very big deal,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi posted on Twitter. “Let’s shout that from the rooftops!”
Other Canadian cities included in the top 10 are Vancouver, in sixth place with a score of 97.3, and Toronto in seventh at 97.2. The two cities each dropped three spots, even though their points rankings were unchanged. Both lost marks for infrastructure, while Vancouver was also docked points on stability, and Toronto on culture and environment.
According to the Economist, the centres that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries. Many in the top 10 also have relatively low population density.
The least livable cities cited in the publication include Dakar, Senegal; Algiers, Algeria; and Douala, Cameroon. The Economist said the lowest-scoring cities are connected to conflict and unavailability of adequate infrastructure.
Melbourne dropped to second place after a seven-year run as the world’s most livable city.