Ben Franklin was wrong. Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and the abysmal rankings of American cities on lists of the best places to live in the world.
Abysmal, of course, is relative. Cities in the developing world do much worse.
Two “best cities” lists came out over the past week, and The Economist Intelligence Unit published its much-watched “Global Liveability Index” earlier this summer.
After taking a hiatus because of the pandemic in 2020, this year’s EIU list was disproportionately affected by a city’s ability to control COVID.
As a result, cities in New Zealand and Australia dominated the top 10, accounting for six of those spots. Auckland, New Zealand (photographed above), grabbed the No. 1 ranking, followed by Osaka, Japan. Tokyo and two Swiss cities, Zurich and Geneva, rounded out the 10 most livable.
These are the top 10 most livable cities in the world and their EIU scores, from first to 10th:
· Auckland, New Zealand (96.0)
· Osaka, Japan (94.2)
· Adelaide, Australia (94.0)
· Wellington, New Zealand (93.7)
· Tokyo, Japan (93.7)
· Perth, Australia (93.3)
· Zurich, Switzerland (92.8)
· Geneva, Switzerland (92.5)
· Melbourne, Australia (92.5)
· Brisbane, Australia (92.4)
Traditionally, cities down under and way up north do especially well, although European and Canadian cities took a hit this year because of COVID.
In 2019, Australia and Canada each had three cities in the top 10. Europe had two, with Vienna at No. 1, but Western European cities took eight of the top 20.
What about the U.S.? American cities are usually notoriously absent from highest levels of rankings by the EIU and others. Not even one made the top 20 in 2019, although Honolulu broke in this year at No. 14 because of its rapid vaccine rollout and relative success battling the pandemic.
The EIU’s index and other prestigious city ratings are often dismissed as simply reflecting the compilers’ tastes, worldview, and prejudices -- the product of snobby elites.
To a great extent, that’s right. People with European ancestry are disproportionately represented among those who put these lists together. And, among that set of folks, I don’t doubt for a second that it’s probably not cool to be a fan of living in American cities.
Also, diversity seems to be a handicap that could hurt cities in the US. Most of the top cities on these lists tend toward the homogenous, with large white or Asian majorities.
Good luck finding a city from Latin America, Africa, or Southern Asia anywhere in the upper reaches of livability rankings. On the other hand, all of the cities deemed least livable are from those regions.
Children play in the rubble-riddled streets of the Palestinian Yarmuk camp, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on November 25, 2020. (Loaui Beshara/AFP via Getty Images)
However, it’s hard to blame cultural bias for the bottom 10. Few natives of Damascus, Syria (the perennial least livable city in the world) or Caracas, Venezuela (the least livable in the Americas) would argue that they deserve better.
These are the 10 least livable cities in the world and their EIU scores in descending order:
· Caracas, Venezuela (41.7)
· Douala, Cameroon (38.6)
· Harare, Zimbabwe (36.6)
· Karachi, Pakistan (36.2)
· Tripoli, Libya (34.2)
· Algiers, Algeria (34.1)
· Dhaka, Bangladesh (33.5)
· Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (32.5)
· Lagos, Nigeria (31.2)
· Damascus, Syria (26.5)
To be fair, the EIU index takes a scientific approach, looking at more than thirty factors, focusing on quality of healthcare, education, infrastructure, stability, and culture. Most of those aren’t subjective.
Less scientific but no less interesting are the newly released lists from Travel + Leisure and Time Out.
While titled as the 25 “best cities,” T+L’s list focuses on places travelers most like to visit. The result is dramatically different than EIU’s, except when it comes to U.S. cities. Only one makes the top 25.
Also, geographic diversity is the name of game here, but the T+L list shuts out Australia and New Zealand, which topped the EIU list.
Many of these “best cities” are smaller and picturesque, including Charleston, South Carolina, the lone U.S. city selected.
Guided tour of historic homes by horse-drawn carriage in The Battery, Charleston, South Carolina's waterfront. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The cities reflect the richness and variety of the world’s culture, along with its dazzling differences in architecture. Four are in Southeast Asia. and three are in Mexico, including No. 1, San Miguel de Allende.
Aerial view over the city San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and its neo-Gothic parish church La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel. (Marica van der Meer/Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Like San Miguel, many of the cities aren’t very well known in the U.S., including Udaipur, India; Ubud, Indonesia; Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala; Luan Prabang, Laos; and Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Wat Saen Muang Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai City, Thailand. (Dukas/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Still, some major world capitals make this list. Among them, in order of ranking, are Istanbul, Mexico City, Bangkok, Taipei, Rome, Tokyo, and Seoul.
Big cities are the norm in what’s arguably the most subjective of the new ratings. Produced by the international media brand Time Out, the list relies on a survey of “city-dwellers” and “insights” from its editors.
Aimed at its audience, which is generally younger, the 37 “coolest cities” are all metropolises, with the sole exception of Porto, Portugal.
Here, U.S. cities shine, with San Francisco ranked No. 1. Time Out celebrates the City by the Bay for its "unbeatable combination of progressiveness, acceptance and sustainability." New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, and Miami also made the list, in that order.
In the end, these rankings probably don’t matter much to the average person who will have his or her own criteria as to what is “livable,” “best,” or coolest.”
Living in your hometown may be far more important than anything else. If you love the beach, you might not care that your city doesn’t have much culture. But if you’re into opera and ballet, New York’s high taxes, expensive real estate, and threat of terrorism won’t keep you away.
The bad news from the EIU survey is that the threat of terrorism and environmental concerns, including increased pollution, have hurt the livability of a number of major cities, including Paris, Cairo, and New Delhi.
Other bad news is that overall livability has dropped since the pandemic.
The good news is that the drop was from pre-pandemic highs, reached after years of significant improvements thanks to increased stability and safety.
The EIU livability ratings are mostly useful to multinational corporations, governments, and transnational workers. The T+L and Time Out rankings are especially good for leisure travelers.
However, for anyone interested in a world that is increasingly interconnected, the lists open a fun and fascinating window into life around the globe.
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Cover photo: Nighttime view of the Auckland, New Zealand, skyline as seen from the new Park Hyatt hotel in the Viaduct Basin area of the city on May 15, 2021. (James D. Morgan/Getty Images)