Uploaded on 2017-03-02 by Angie Ramon

Module 3 - compulsory Exercise: Livability Criteria 1. Which are your top livability criteria? a) Housing; b) Health Care; c) Environment; d) Job Opportunities; e) Infrastructure; f) Education; g) Transportation; h) Sanitation Standards i) Political Stability; j) Culture; k) Safety; l) International Possibilities m) Economy; n) Climate; o) Recreation Possibilities 2. Why do we live where we live? I live in the city where I was born, Madrid, but I would also choose this place willingly to live. I like cities, whatever its size, that have not succumbed to localism (somewhat parochial), self-indulgence or social, cultural or economic exclusion. In contrast to other capitals, raised to the honour of the altar from their surrounding cities, and even though it is a destination for domestic migration, Madrid has been sharply criticized by the media of all of Spain's provincial capitals and this message has been embraced by its inhabitants towards reinforcing their cultural identity. One cultural identity is a heavy burden. The weight of cultural identity is inversely proportional to the existing identities. In Madrid we have not only one but many. And the most important we are not “proud” of them, nor flaunt, they are not ours, they are “we”, sometimes funny, sometimes rough or annoying. The poet Agustín García Calvo makes our hymn that says: Everyone should be something, and solely for this reason I am a Madrid citizen. One of the strengths of Madrid is the public health system, universal as much as the rest of Spain and specifically in the municipality the specialised social services. Other important advantage is an efficient mass public transit system that reaches all neighborhoods in a balanced manner as well as surrounding municipalities. However, people are reluctant to renounce using private vehicle, even for minimum distances and that's why we are facing a serious problem of atmospheric pollution. 3. To what extend does your own place of residence fulfill your ideal livability criteria? Madrid in my top-5 criteria: a) Housing: 65; b) Health Care: 95; c) Environment: 65; d) Job Opportunities: 70 e) Infrastructure: 80; f) Education: 70; g) Transportation: 85; h) Sanitation Standards: 85 i) Political Stability: 85; j) Culture: 85; k) Safety: 80; l) International Possibilities: 75 m) Economy: 75; n) Climate: 85; o) Recreation Possibilities: 90 General Livability: 77 http://www.madrid.org/cs/Satellite?cid=1162209993137&pagename=PortalSalud%2FPage%2FPTSA_listaHospitales 4. What would you change? The first thing I'd do would be to carry out a detailed study of the true housing requirements. There are many studies elaborated by private and public institutions which have had highly diverse results, so is time the City Council taking the initiative to address the issue. Madrid has its own public company governed by private law whose corporate purpose is housing access. During the tough years of the financial crisis, the local government at the time sold off many of its social rental apartments to vulture funds that, immediately, increase the rent and thus they got rid of all the modest tenants. Now is time to reverse this situation and the current city government is planning to build new social rental apartments. The bursting of the housing bubble caused a collapse in sales, and many flats have been empty and property owners are reluctant to pushing down prices so the situation remains the same today. There is a danger of generating an underground economy of tourist rental as was the case in Barcelona. Another problem that we must also tackle is, as I had said before, atmospheric pollution. Crisis had prevented taking old cars off the market and people are reluctant in giving up their private car even for short distances. Even though we all recognize that Madrid public transport network is considered to be one of the best in the world, it is proving very difficult to dissuade drivers, so it will be necessary introduce compulsory measures. Finally, it should be acknowledged that Madrid is a particularly noisy city. Madrid citizens are used to living with it but in more recent years has risen to worrying levels and we must also act to remedy this situation. 5. Why do we move? It is quite difficult for us, all Spanish people, leaving our city of birth. We take so long to get going because our families, friends and social settings. However, when we are compelled to leave our city, our country for living in another place, we get successful and quickly adaptation to the new environment. My favourite cities for living instead of Madrid are all in Europe: 1. London, because its multiculturalism it isn't just pure posture as New York, and though it is a very tough city as almost every metropolis, have many incentives to live (at least before BREXIT): - Job opportunities - Economy - Culture - Infrastructure - Transportation 2. Roma, is very much like Madrid. We promptly get used to its culture, lifestyle and apparent chaos but it can also be said that Madrid people are more friendly and nice. Virtues: - Culture - Infrastructure - Economy - Recreation possibilities - Job opportunities 3. Lucerne. When I got to know Lucerne, I fell in love with it immediately. Although is the opposite of a big city, it has all its benefits. Only it seems to me to be lacking is to learn German because I am fluent in English and French. Qualities; - Environment - Sanitation Standards - Economy - Job opportunities - Education