The pandemic has shaken up the ranking of the world’s best cities to live in, with Europeans falling in the rankings and Australians, Japanese or New Zealanders rising because of their measures to contain coivd-19, according to a study.
Auckland tops The Economist magazine’s annual study of cities where living is enjoyable out of a total of 140, according to the 2021 edition published this Wednesday, followed by Osaka, Japan; Adelaide, Australia; Tokyo, Japan; and Wellington, New Zealand.
“Auckland has risen to the top of the rankings thanks to its successful approach to containing the covid-19 pandemic, which has allowed society to remain open and the city to perform better in terms of education, culture and the environment,” states the accompanying press release.
In contrast, “European cities scored especially poorly in this year’s edition.”
Vienna, considered the most pleasant city between 2018 and 2020, fell to 12th place, while Hamburg, Germany, dropped from 34th to 47th.
The study mentions “stress on hospital resources, which has increased in most German and French cities” and “restrictions on movement and meetings that have limited cultural offerings.”
The most notable rise was registered in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (14th in the ranking, +46 positions), “thanks to major advances in how to contain the pandemic and manage the vaccination program.”
Damascus remains the city where living is most difficult, due to the civil war. Caracas ranks 131.
