10 Best Cities to Live in the World Report and Toronto Ranks 8th

Being a Toronto call centre, I’m very aware of  the benefits being located in such a vibrant, multicultural city that is as technologically advanced as it is diverse. As a show of appreciation, I frequently write about when Canada (or Toronto) places on global lists ranking a variety of areas such as the smartest countries, the happiest countries, the best countries for entrepreneurs and best countries to live. I also like to feature national reports like provincial report cards or rankings of the best cities to live in Canada so I was pleased when I saw that the Best Cities Ranking and Report had been released by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The EIU is the research arm of The Economist and they have been ranking the best cities to live for years. The 2012 list was different as they used a new metric in conjunction with their Livability Index which measured: Stability (crime, threat of conflict – military or otherwise); Healthcare (quality and availability); Culture and environment (social freedoms, climate and amenities); Education (availability and quality); and Infrastructure (transit, roads, water, energy, housing and telecommunication).

This year, EIU partnered with Buzzdata in a contest to determine a new and improved method to tabulate the results. “The competition was won by Filippo Lovato, who produced an additional category based on “spatial adjustments”. This category incorporates seven new indicators: Green Space, Sprawl, Natural Assets, Cultural Assets, Connectivity, Isolation and Pollution. Methods of gathering data for these indicators ranged from the use of global secondary databases to making qualitative judgments based on web resources such as Google maps.“

The countries that made up the top 10 were:

1. Hong Kong, China
2. Amsterdam, Netherlands
3. Osaka, Japan
4. Paris, France
5. Sydney, Australia
6. Stockholm, Sweden
7. Berlin, Germany
8. Toronto, Canada
9. Munich, Germany
10. Tokyo, Japan

The new criteria shifted the list significantly as perennial top ten members Vancouver and Calgary didn’t make the list this year. Toronto was the only North American city to make the top ten but it was rated 4th in the 2011 ranking so its fall to eighth was the steepest of any in the top ten when comparing 2011 to 2012.

The US cities that made the ranking (in order) were: 14 – Washington, DC; 15 – Chicago; 16 – New York; 17 – Los Angeles; 18 – San Francisco; 19 – Boston; 21 – Atlanta; and 23 – Miami.

These lists allow cities to be able to see how they stack up against one another although all studies of this nature are going to be subject to debate and criticism. They still serve the purpose of spotlighting what truly matters and what does make a city great. Tourists and residents can use these lists to decide if the city places adequate importance on elements they value.

In the end, making the list and the top ten in general stirs up some pride for the residents of these cities. It feels good when they city you hail from is recognized on a global scale – it has special meaning. So, congratulations to our hometown of Toronto for being recognized on the world stage for the great city it is.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values and advancing the missions of the non-profits we proudly serve.