Geneva tops ten most 'liveable' cities list

Geneva has recently been ranked as number one on the list of top ten most 'liveable' cities across the world which also includes Zurich, Singapore, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Luxembourg, Stockholm, Berlin, Hong Kong, Auckland, it has been reported.

However, the Global Liveable Cities Index (GLCI) took into account the sensibilities of ordinary working people from 64 cities, balancing work and play, environmental awareness, localism, globalism and many other factors.

An international study has devised a new measure for the 'livability' of major cities across the world.

The team described their index as a work in progress, but posted a liveability list of the 64 cities studied, which includes many of the most populated cities in the world. New York City does not appear until number 17, despite being ranked number 1 by economic indicators and other ranking schemes. Tokyo was number 18; London was number 22, Moscow close to the bottom of the rankings at number 62 and Jakarta bottom of their list at number 64.

The team has simulated new rankings based on how environmental, political and economic change to improve liveability might alter the order and shown that Singapore could rise to a joint Rank 1 with Geneva while Chicago, Shanghai, Amman and Abu Dhabi could jump from relatively low-ranking positions to much higher up in the team's urban league table.

The team's ongoing work involves assessing 200 global cities including 100 from Greater China, 30 from South East Asia, 20 from the Middle East and 50 from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North and South America.

The study is published in the World Review of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development.