Uploaded on 2016-10-13 by Mateo Buitrago

Livable cities according to my opinion, are cities that bring together a particular type of characteristics. After carefully analyzing the shown studies of the cities around the world, and also going over every city´s profile (since I have not traveled to all of them,) I came up with my own conclusions. My livable city, and I say mine because this is a mixture of my romanticism, with my perception of the best characteristics, and my own personal preferences, is a city that has a soul. I divided my characteristics in 5, like the instructions stated, but in every one of them there a plenty of descriptions. To start, I will drop down my list of cities, and then, I will explain my developed criteria. My top liveable cities are (From top to bottom): Tokyo, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris... And for a extra addition I would say New York, and then Medellin. The criteria for this decision, goes as followed. First of everything, I believe that a city needs, in obligation, to have a deep sense of culture. I measured culture by my own perception, and opinion of the following points: Architecture, History, Heritage, Courtesy, Creativity, Entertainment, Sports and Special Events, Sexyness, and Urban Culture. So, in other words, the ability of the city to make itself feel pure, and ancient, and with identity. Also how its people behave, walk, interchange activities and words. How do people seem to feel, and how they express themselves. Is it good for art, for movies, for a nice lunch. Is architecture an emblem, is it preserved, and is it part of their heritage. Following, there is Public Safety, and this includes: Housing, Public Spaces/Parks, Traffic Congestion, Public Transport, Clean Water, Clean Energy, Health Services, and Health Culturization, and a Steady Fiscal System. This is what really goes deep into the human necessities. Is this place good for my life, my basic needs, and am I going to allow healthiness, and embrace my good habits. Also, is the government flexible for what I might want or need, and is it allowing me to evolve and is it adapting with me, or even faster than me. Third, there is the Economy, which I was debating if it should go in second, but lets just put it third. This is really important, since I believe that the root of all evil is not money but the lack of it. A good economy mixed with the top two criterias could make a city stand out and maintain itself really livable. This point includes: Affordability of life, Foreign Investment, Entrepreneurship of its people, Government aid, Government financial stability and efficiency, and Government structure to help private entities be successful. Adaptability of the industries, expenditure consciousness, and importing VS exporting goods ratio. Fourth there is Evolution: Sustainability, Infrastructure, Transformation rate, Competitiveness inside and with outside markets. This explains how the city is coping with the rapid changes of life. How it adapts to the better practices that are discovered, and how it innovates to use its current supplies without sacrificing the future and its livability. Lastly but obviously not least, there is the Uniqueness of the city. Now, this might not seem too important, but I believe that for cities to maintain competitive, attractive, and evolving, they have to embrace their uniqueness. Geography, culture, history, and many things make cities unique. This is characterized with the following points: Climate, Gastronomy, Music and Festivals, Urbanism, Model of city, and Good Will. To give a small example, when you thing about Amsterdam, you know about their bicycle routes, the river, and even the legality of usually illegal things. Barcelona has a model of city where every block is a small neighborhood, food culture is a party, and the climate is awesome. Paris, its all about love, and well, Eifel Tower, just to mention a few. I have not visited all of these cities, but it is my intention to do so. I believe cities need soul, and need to also take care of their existing soul, then the rest will come little by little. Thank you for this course, it was an awesome experience, and I hope to do great things to be a benchmark for our new type of cities. Mateo Buitrago. PS: The picture is in northern part of Medellin, close to the Botanical Garden, where people are allow to relax, and an informal type of commerce is allowed.