The Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual ranking of most liveable cities has been shaken up by Covid-19. The ranking changed by the impacts of Covid19 has propelled Auckland to first place, replacing Vienna, which crashed out of the top 10. In the ranking, island nations of New Zealand, Australia and Japan fared best.
Since 2018, the Austrian capital had led the list. For years, it ran neck and neck with Melbourne at the top of the survey of 140 urban centres. New Zealand eliminated Covid-19 within its borders through lockdown measures, in which it was helped by its geographic isolation. This gave its cities a big boost in the rankings.
The EIU said in a statement, “New Zealand’s tough lockdown allowed their society to reopen and enabled citizens of cities like Auckland and Wellington to enjoy a lifestyle that looked similar to pre-pandemic life.”
Economist Intelligence Unit generally does not make the full ranking public. The last time Auckland was in the top 10 was in 2017. In that year, it came eighth, a position Melbourne shared with Geneva this year. This year, Vienna fell to 12th.
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Another city illustrated New Zealand’s advantage this year. The culinary capital and the political centre of NZ, Wellington also entered the top 10. It came fourth behind Osaka, which leapfrogged two spots to second place, and Adelaide, which moved past its compatriots Sydney & Melbourne to third place from 10th. The latest EIU ranking is from 2019 as last year’s was cancelled. The EIU said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on global liveability.”
It added, “Cities across the world are now much less liveable than they were before the pandemic began, and we have seen that regions such as Europe have been hit particularly hard.” Apart from liveability, four other categories assessed are stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure.
