Uploaded on 2016-07-05 by Alejandro Juan Pineda Sánchez

1. Which are your top livability criteria? For me, the most important livability criteria of the list are (the most importan on the top): a) Environment. b) Health care. c) Job Opportunities. d) Infrastructure. d) Political stability. 2. Why do we live where we live? I live at this moment in Elche, a small city (less more than 300.000 people), in the Alicante province, in the south-east coast of Spain. The reasons why i am livng here are, from more to less important: a) The environment: the city has a lot of vegetation (its palm trees are world heritage and are protected), which, along with its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, gives it a pleasant climate both in winter and summer. The effect "heat island" occurs unlike in other cities: i think Elche has a nicer temperature than rural areas around, more dry and without a lot of vegetation. b) Family and friends: have the family and friends in a determined place is also a strong reason for living there. c) Culture: the city has a very strong culture, with two world cultural heritages and a network of cultural activities and places, almost all of them free. d) Hygiene: unlike other cities in Spain, specially in Alicante, the city streets are clean, the garbage collection services are very good. e) Housing and urbanism: the city has a good urban planning, which makes it very accessible to both pedestrians and for the car. I uploaded the photo is taken from my window. It is a view of one of the small green areas of the city and the buildings that surround it. Distribute the buildings around these wooded areas allows very effective cross ventilation in summer, reducing the use of air conditioning. 3. To what extend does your own place of residence fulfill your ideal livability criteria? The mark of this city for my livability criteria is: a) Environment: 90 b) Health care: 85 c) Job Opportunities: 30 d) Infrastructure: 80 d) Political stability: 90 With this, the general mark of the city is 75/100. The environment is very good, as well as the infrastructure, the health care and the political stability, but there are few job opportunities, and this makes a lot of young people to emigrate to another cities for finding a job... 4. What would you change? Knowing this, the most urgent policies to make the city mor livable is generating new job opportunities. It is a difficult thing in Spain due to the actual crisis, but maybe if the city make new policies for attract new foreign businesses, new job opportunities can be generated. Greater integration of some neighborhoods, with most vulnerable groups, with the city is also needed. To do so would be more extensive social integration policies and public housing necessary. 5. Why do we move? If i decide to change my place of residence, i would move to one of the next ones, in which i have already lived for a time: - Osaka (Japan): the city has a lot of job opportunities, a very good transport infrastructure, a strong culture, and is not so expensive as Tokyo. - Nagoya (Japan): similar to the previous one, the environment is better, with more vegetation and more clean air, but the transport infraestructure, being good, is no so effective as in Osaka. - Braga (Portugal): very good environment, a lot of services and strong culture, but the transport infrastructure with other cities is no so good. Now, i will give 5 qualities of each of these cities, the most important ones for me: - Osaka: a) job opportunities, b) transport infrastructure, c) culture, d) price standard for living, e) internaional communication (airports, etc.). - Nagoya: a) environment, b) job opportunities, c) price standard for living, d) culture, e) transport infrastructure. - Braga: a) environment, b) culture, c) price standard for living, d) transport infrastructure, e) climate.