Uploaded on 2016-09-22 by Luis Gento Rodriguez

LIST OF MOST LIVEABLE CITIES A.- Top known 5 most liveable cities 1) Amsterdam 2) Utrecht 3) Antwerp 4) Zurich 5) Vienna B.- Five characteristics for a liveable city 1) Education standards and cultural diversity 2) Innovation output and economic growth 3) Political/governance stability 4) Accessibility to public transport (development rate and costs) 5) Environmental sustainability (CO2 Footprint) C.- The status of London London ranks very high on education standards and cultural diversity. The city is home of a large number of top world ranked universities, and is home to a large pool of high-skilled researchers and workers in many fields (banking, insurance, biotech and medicine, etc.). The region ranks first in economic growth and innovation output in the UK. Although Greater London benefits from political/governance stability, the region is currently divided in 32 local authorities which are responsible to manage a wide range of city issues at borough levels. There seems not to be good coordination and collaboration among them, and lessons learnt from a particular borough is not possible to replicate in others as there is not to be a culture in place that encourages an open and seamless data sharing strategy. This is a particular problem to understand infrastructure usage (commuting, impact of construction sites, deliveries, commuting to work). Long-term sustainability due to economic growth is not met at social and environmental levels. Housing demand is high as population increases, construction works has boomed but middle-class citizens are forced to live in the outskirts due to current house pricing. Commuting times and train frequencies from outer regions to central London is becoming less reliable (old rolling stocks and numerous strikes that have undermined network performance). At the same time, public transport ticket prices have increased. There is not seemed to be a solid strategy that addresses these challenges (alternative commuting methods, such as cycle to work scheme across all local authorities). Again, coordination among all parts is essential (citizens, regional government and local authorities).