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Panorama of Auckland, New Zealand: Winner in the ranking of the most liveable metropolises
Photo: kyrien / iStockphoto / Getty Images
In which metropolis is it best to live?
This question is followed up by an annual ranking of the British "Economist" group.
In the most recent evaluation, European cities have noticeably lost their attractiveness due to the corona pandemic.
Vienna, Hamburg and other European metropolises performed significantly worse in the ranking of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) than in previous years.
On the other hand, New Zealand, Japan and Australia made up positions.
This year, the New Zealand port city of Auckland secured the title of "most liveable city in the world".
The EIU justified its selection because of its success in containing the Covid-19 pandemic.
Japan's Osaka followed in second place, while Adelaide in Australia took third place.
New Zealand's capital Wellington came in fourth.
Vienna was at the top of the EIU ranking from 2018 to 2020.
Now the Austrian capital fell back to twelfth place.
Hamburg even slipped 13 places to 47th place.
"Eight of the ten biggest relegators in the ranking are European cities," the editors explained.
Only two European cities made it into the top ten in the ranking: Zurich (7th place) and Geneva (8th place).
For the ranking, the EIU uses criteria such as stability, health care, culture, the environment, education and infrastructure.
At the bottom of the list is a civil war country
The EIU cites the “burden on hospital systems” and the associated “poorer assessment of health care” as the reason for the poor performance of the German and French cities this year.
The pandemic also had a particularly strong impact on the cultural sector and the general quality of life in Europe.
New Zealand and Australia rely on strict entry restrictions and hard, but rather short lockdowns, among other things, to contain the corona.
The capital of the US Pacific island of Hawaii achieved the greatest improvement in the ranking: Honolulu got the spread of the coronavirus under control particularly quickly and therefore rose by 46 places to 14th place in the ranking.
According to the study, however, the Syrian capital Damascus remains the city where life is most difficult due to the ongoing civil war.
mmq / AFP