Uploaded on 2016-07-21 by Zanda Apīne

Which are your top livability criteria? Transportation Infrastructure Environment Housing Culture Why do we live where we live? Currently I live in the capital city of Latvia – Riga, in Neighborhood called Āgenskalns, in 2-room apartment, located in 2 storey house near the park. (My house of residence shown in the picture) Why? School and work is near by, center just 10 minutes drive-away Quiet neighborhood with a lot of parks and beautiful nature ( I have a dog, so this point is very important for me) All kind of public transportation is accessible by 5 minutes walking Good infrastructure, main cycling roads goes near by House where I live is equipped with modern heating system that allows to reduce utility costs impressively To what extend does your own place of residence fulfill your ideal livability criteria? Transportation - 70 Infrastructure - 70 Environment - 80 Housing - 70 Culture – 80 General score for Riga, in my opinion – 50 What would you change in your city? At first, I would improve infrastructure and housing, mainly focusing on pavements and ramps on it, because it’s a big problem in Riga for those who are riding bicycles and new moms with baby carriage, also people with disabilities, improving infrastructure would also encourage people to use more of nature-friendly transportation, also public transport. About housing – as Riga have been one of the manufacturing cities during the soviet union time, there are a lot of old serial, panel 5 storey houses which are not energy efficient at all and only few of them are renovated and insulated. It is critically important to improve the sustainability and livability of those old houses as we have so many of them. Why do we move? I am not planning on moving for a while, because I am very happy with my residence at the moment, but if I need some changes, then I wold move to: Singapore – because of high quality of life and opportunity to have a great education, sustainable infrastructure and vary clean city, climate meets my personal comfort level Netherlands (probably Amsterdam) – because of the transportation - bicycles, they think about environmentally friendly options to reduce pollution, also quality of life and education Switzerland – Nature and landscape, quality of life, culture.