The 2012 Liveability Ranking survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is out, and the cities remain relatively unchanged in rank compared to the previous survey: Melbourne and Vienna hold the top two positions, with Vancouver and Toronto next, and Calgary tied with Adelaide for fifth place. The difference between first and fifth is less than a full point: 97.5 (Melbourne) vs. 96.6 (Calgary).
The scores are based on EIU’s qualitative ratings (EIU opinion and field correspondent), alongside some quantitative measures. I’m a bit curious myself how humidity/temperature affects the score, as it scored by “Average weather conditions.” Private education and private healthcare are also considered, implying that more accessible private services correspond to a higher liveability score. Not sure how big of a weighing private services contribute to the score though, because all Canadian counterparts scored 100 for Healthcare, yet I’m not sure of the obvious existence of private healthcare locally in Calgary. The categories are:
- Stability
- Healthcare (including private health care)
- Culture & Environment (including weather)
- Education (including private education), and
- Infrastructure
At the end of the day, the scores may be used as a guideline for paying employee premiums for city relocation. A score 80+ indicates than an employer would pay no premium for an employee to work in Calgary (96.6), whereas an employee working in Tehran, Iran (45.8) should be paid a 20% premium. I’m sure I would ask for a bit more in that case.
You can register to download the free report at the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Liveability Ranking website.