Uploaded on 2016-09-21 by Marli Geldenhuys

Step 1: List the five most liveable cities that you know, based on your own experience and judgment, placing the most liveable city at the top of the list. Cape Town, South Africa Barcelona, Spain Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Amsterdam, The Netherlands Santiago, Chile Step 2: Describe in your own words five characteristics that according to your opinion make a city liveable. Order them placing the most important at the top of the list. The physical territory in proximity to the city i.e. mountains, forests and ocean The cost of living Ease of transport and time spent in traffic The quality of local produce, food, coffee for a reasonable price The weather The culture, music, nightlife, arts and traditions Step 3: Describe the status of your own city in terms of the five characteristics that you listed above. Propose how your city should/could be transformed in relation to these characteristics in order to be more sustainable. Cape Town is the most liveable city I have lived in. I have long been reading the Monocle and respect the publication, but I do think that in terms of pure joy of living many ´developing´cities are wholly underrated. Very few things in a perfectly organised and super industrial city like London could surpass the joy of a 5 minute drive from home to Lion´s Head and a hike around the mountain with views of Table Mountain and the beaches. This type of thing forms a much bigger part of ones daily life in Rio or Cape Town than crime necessarily does. On top of that the weather is also very important. Having lived in a beautiful city in Norway, I am of the opinion that mountains and fjords are only great if the weather plays along. On top of that many of the best ranked cities are so incredibly expensive that it detracts from your quality of life, the type of accommodation you can stay in, the food you can eat and the wine you drink. In Cape Town exceptional quality food, wine, coffee, urban produce etc is available at affordable prices for a professional. That said, Cape Town´s transport system has improved a lot in the last 5 years and has become more inclusive, but there are still some constraints and safety concerns. On top of that urban planning priorities attempts to right historical wrongs, but a lot still needs to be done to provide this. Affordable housing in a central location has become much more scarce with rapidly inflating property prices due to foreign investment. So there is work to do, but it stays a magnificent city with clean air, unpolluted icy Atlantic beaches, beautiful mountains and a very rich cultural mix albeit with some historical problems still in process of being addressed.