The pandemic has caused a major upset on the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual list of the most livable cities on the planet. Thanks to their relative isolation from the rest of the world, the island nations of New Zealand, Australia, and Japan all had strong showings in the top 10, with Auckland, NZ, taking the top spot. Vienna, its predecessor in the No. 1 position, fell out of the top 10 completely. The Guardian notes that Kiwis themselves are a bit baffled as to how both Auckland and Wellington (No. 4) received such a high ranking, as both cities have "significant challenges to livability," including high housing costs, weak public transit, and terrible traffic in Auckland, among others.
Still, per the Economist: "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." Check out which cities made the top 10, and which fell at the bottom of the list of 140 included cities:
Most Livable Cities
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Osaka, Japan
- Adelaide, Australia
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Tokyo, Japan
- Perth, Australia
- Zurich, Switzerland
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Melbourne, Australia
- Brisbane, Australia
Least Livable Cities - Caracas, Venezuela
- Douala, Cameroon
- Harare, Zimbabwe
- Karachi, Pakistan
- Tripoli, Libya
- Algiers, Algeria
- Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Damascus, Syria
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