Despite being ranked as one of the world’s most expensive cities in 2021, Osaka is now one of the top ten most liveable cities in the world according to The Economist’s annual Global Liveability Index. This year’s survey examined a total of 172 cities worldwide, with data gathered between February 14 and March 13 2022.
So, where did Osaka fall on the list? The Kansai capital is tied for tenth place with Melbourne, Australia, falling from its second place ranking in the same survey last year. What’s even more surprising is that Tokyo didn’t even make this year’s top ten after being placed fourth in 2021.
According to the report, here are the world’s top ten most liveable cities:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Calgary, Canada
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Frankfurt, Germany
8. Toronto, Canada
9. Amsterdam, Netherlands
10. Osaka, Japan
10. Melbourne, Australia
The Global Liveability Index examines a city based on qualitative and quantitative factors that affect living conditions, such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, stability, culture and environment. This year's data was also influenced by how each city managed with the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly how they've rebounded with good infrastructure, services and enjoyable leisure activities.
In the survey, Osaka received a perfect score for stability, healthcare and education. It was also rated highly for having good infrastructure. However, compared to all the other countries on the top ten list, Osaka scored the lowest in terms of culture and environment.
Overall, this year's ranking was dominated by western European cities as well as a handful of spots from Canada. The majority of the top ten cities now have very few Covid-19 restrictions, with most shops and restaurants open while face masks are no longer required when going out. This could be a reason why we’ve seen cities in Japan take a major drop in the rankings as the country is still very cautious and has kept many Covid-19 restrictions in place.
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