Sydney catapults up the Economist list but is still behind Melbourne
Sydney has reclaimed its place among the world’s most livable cities, sitting fourth behind Vienna, Copenhagen and, yes, Melbourne The economistThe annual quality of life index.
The recovery after two years outside the top 10 comes as the healthcare system is no longer burdened by COVID-19 and restrictions on daily activities have been lifted by the pandemic.
Melbourne (with a score of 97.7) and Sydney (97.4) were the only two Australian cities to make the top 10, although Perth and Adelaide were not far behind at 95.9. Brisbane – which was cruelly overlooked by Taylor Swift on her Eras tour announced on Wednesday – ranked 16th in the world with a score of 95.
While quality of life surveys are notoriously subjective, the Economist Intelligence Unit attempts to rank cities using a weighted index that measures stability and security, healthcare, infrastructure, education, culture and the environment.
Sydney and Melbourne were tied on all counts except Culture and Environment, where the Victorian capital was ahead by 1.4 points. However, EIU senior analyst Syetarn Hansakul revealed that the reason for this is the climate in which Melbourne performs better than any other Australian city.
That indicator included humidity and temperature, she said herald on Wednesday, just as mercury peaked at 11 degrees in overcast Melbourne and Sydney hit a sunny 16.5 degrees. “I’m sorry, but this is the result,” said Hansakul.
According to the Economist Global Quality of Life Index, Melbourne ranks ahead of Sydney in terms of climate.Credit: Nicki Short
Eamon Waterford, executive director of the Committee for Sydney lobby group and think tank, agreed that Sydney was an incredibly livable city, but said it was being bogged down by affordability issues that they didn’t advocate The economistIndex.
“They sell it as a product to companies that figure out how much they have to pay executives to live in different cities. “It’s tailored to the lifestyle of executives,” Waterford said. “It doesn’t take affordability into account. This is an important factor in determining whether a city is worth living in.
