Toronto ranked 8th-best city in the world

[mentalfloss]

Toronto ranked 8th-best city in the world

Toronto fell several spots on a best-cities list but still managed to remain in the top 10 — the only North American city to do so.

Hong Kong topped a new list put out by The Economist magazine this year, followed by Amsterdam and Osaka. Toronto ranked eighth out of 70 cities around the world.

New methodology used to rank cities this year took green space, pollution, urban sprawl, cultural assets, access to nature and other indicators into account. Toronto scored low when it came to dealing with urban sprawl and access to natural assets. It also received a low ranking for access to cultural assets — that grade was based on proximity to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage sites.

Melbourne and Vancouver, which perennially made The Economist’s most-livable cities list, were shut out this time around.

The research arm of The Economist, the Economist Intelligence Unit (E.I.U.), used a new methodology to determine the world’s best urban centres. The E.I.U. teamed up with BuzzData to launch a contest calling for new ways to interpret the best-cities data. Filippo Lovato was the winner with his Spatially Adjusted Livability Index that added seven new indicators to city rankings.

“Although the top cities in the standard livability ranking were absent from the sample Lovato used, the addition of indicators like connectivity brought some larger cities into the mix while keeping the integrity of other areas of the survey,” the report states.

The competition-winning research looked at 70 cities. The E.I.U. studies 140 urban centres for its livability rankings.

Last year, Toronto ranked fourth on The Economist’s top-10 livable cities list. Vancouver was third, with Melbourne knocking it out of its previous first-place position.

The top 10

Hong Kong
Amsterdam
Osaka
Paris
Sydney
Stockholm
Berlin
Toronto
Munich
Tokyo

The bottom 10

Tehran
Nairobi
Lusaka
Phnom Penh
Karachi
Dakar
Abidjan
Dhaka
Lagos
Harare

Toronto ranked 8th-best city in the world - CityNews

 

[JLM]

Toronto ranked 8th-best city in the world

Toronto fell several spots on a best-cities list but still managed to remain in the top 10 — the only North American city to do so.

Hong Kong topped a new list put out by The Economist magazine this year, followed by Amsterdam and Osaka. Toronto ranked eighth out of 70 cities around the world.

New methodology used to rank cities this year took green space, pollution, urban sprawl, cultural assets, access to nature and other indicators into account. Toronto scored low when it came to dealing with urban sprawl and access to natural assets. It also received a low ranking for access to cultural assets — that grade was based on proximity to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s World Heritage sites.

Melbourne and Vancouver, which perennially made The Economist’s most-livable cities list, were shut out this time around.

The research arm of The Economist, the Economist Intelligence Unit (E.I.U.), used a new methodology to determine the world’s best urban centres. The E.I.U. teamed up with BuzzData to launch a contest calling for new ways to interpret the best-cities data. Filippo Lovato was the winner with his Spatially Adjusted Livability Index that added seven new indicators to city rankings.

“Although the top cities in the standard livability ranking were absent from the sample Lovato used, the addition of indicators like connectivity brought some larger cities into the mix while keeping the integrity of other areas of the survey,” the report states.

The competition-winning research looked at 70 cities. The E.I.U. studies 140 urban centres for its livability rankings.

Last year, Toronto ranked fourth on The Economist’s top-10 livable cities list. Vancouver was third, with Melbourne knocking it out of its previous first-place position.

The top 10

Hong Kong
Amsterdam
Osaka
Paris
Sydney
Stockholm
Berlin
Toronto
Munich
Tokyo

The bottom 10

Tehran
Nairobi
Lusaka
Phnom Penh
Karachi
Dakar
Abidjan
Dhaka
Lagos
Harare

Toronto ranked 8th-best city in the world - CityNews

I doubt if there is any city with a population of more than 50,000 that can possibly rank in the top 500!

 

[mentalfloss]

I'm kind of shocked at Hong Kong though. I guess it obviously parts ways from most of China, but there is still fair bit of pollution there if I'm not mistaken.

 

[petros]

Maybe it's not about just pollution?

 

[mentalfloss]

Maybe it's not about just pollution?

Really?

I thought the whole assessment was about pollution.

My mistake.

 

[petros]

Glad you see that now.

 

[mentalfloss]

Glad you see that now.

Guess that should have been in purple for someone as smart as you.

 

[petros]

Of course. Purple is the colour of Royalty.

 

[Toro]

lol

Toronto isn't even the eighth-best city in Canada.

 

[JLM]

lol

Toronto isn't even the eighth-best city in Canada.

Nor probably in south eastern Ontario! :lol:

 

[skookumchuck]

Weighing with someone else's scale? Ok if your preaching to the choir i guess.

 

[jariax]

This is quite possibly the most absurd city ranking list of all time.
One of the main criteria in the study, was the distance from the city to UNESCO world heritage sites.

 

[Locutus]

lol

Toronto isn't even the eighth-best city in Canada.

This

 

[eh1eh]

lol

Toronto isn't even the eighth-best city in Canada.

I think that salt air is rotting your brain a little.

 

[JLM]

I think that salt air is rotting your brain a little.

My brain may be rotted a little, but living in the salt air for 45 years didn't do it! :lol:

 

[taxslave]

SOmehow I doubt the citiots that produce these polls would care for the opinions of those of us that shun all cities. The only thing usefull that I can see on that list is all have decent airports so you can get through or out of them easily.

 

[wulfie68]

The problem with this sort of thing is its all subjective: interests, priorities and concerns vary from person to person. I could care less about UN cultural sites when determining where I want to live, but the quality of sports teams is more important (so Toronto would lose hard compared to most other North American cities ). Grats to Hogtown but take it for what its worth.

 

[JLM]

The problem with this sort of thing is its all subjective: interests, priorities and concerns vary from person to person. I could care less about UN cultural sites when determining where I want to live, but the quality of sports teams is more important (so Toronto would lose hard compared to most other North American cities ). Grats to Hogtown but take it for what its worth.

Right on Wulfie- one of the main criteria for me is how many steep climbing hills they have. I know most of them have "health spas" but in all cases those "health spas" don't do a thing for your financial health and probably not a hell of a lot for your physical health either! :lol:

 

[Liberalman]

because Toronto has a lot of trees

 

[coldstream]

I moved out of Toronto about 6 years ago and i wouldn't want to go back. I'd lived there on and off for most of my life.

The Toronto of my youth.. Toronto the Good, the provincial, uptight city of modest aspirations.. clean, quiet.. with dignified architecture (gothic, victorian).. sensible, somewhat puritan.. really was a thing of the past by the time i left.. although you could still find it in old neighbourhoods.

It was replaced with the wild pretensions of a 'World Class City'.. with abrasive, intrusive architecture (Skydome, CN Tower, the Bank towers, the new ROM), and a non-descript sprawl of monolithic, bland urban vistas.. all indistinguishable (and usually using the same architects with 'global' cachet) from a couple dozen of other Global cities all competing the 'World Class' status. Oppressive concrete and glass has replaced inviting red brick and wood of downtown. It all very much reflects the cultural shift in the city.

A cultured summer day at the CNE, lots of fun when you were a kid, started with the Agricultural and Industrial exhibits in the morning, moved on to the Food Building for lunch.. before your parents let you hit the wonders of the Midway in the afternoon. What do they have now.. the debauchery of Pride Day.. and the completely obtuse 'cultural festival' of Caribana... hot, frenzied, incomprehensible, boring things.

Sports.. as spectators.. the old Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, Argos, Rifles football, Marleys hockey.. personal.. war canoes or oars on the Don or Lakeshore, hockey on public rinks, swimming at the Beaches or public pools.. at least they were affordable without the need to support professional athletes in lives of unmitigated splendour.

No i wouldn't rate Toronto a Top 8 city. It's a city that's become a legend in its own mind.. and lost all memory of itself.. or its sense of community.