Uploaded on 2015-10-07 by MartinCalistoFriant

Health care - 50 Environment - 65 Culture - 67 Transportation - 42 Safety – 38 Overall score: 50 I live in Quito for rather what appears to be completely different reasons than the liveability criteria above as my city basically fails in all those five. I actually just realized the extent to which Quito fails in the criteria that I thought I valued in a city. However, out of the 5 cities I have lived in (Paris, Montreal, Melbourne, London) Quito is perhaps one of the places in which I am happier. This shows the extent to which traditional liveability criteria fail to capture some essential aspects of city living. Why do I live in Quito? 1. I was born there and a lot of my family is there and that has no value. 2. Job opportunities are available in Quito, especially in my area (development studies). 3. I obtained a scholarship from the Ecuadorian government that forces me to stay a certain amount of years in Ecuador after I finish my studies. 4. My girlfriend and partner, lives here and we live together so her choice of city is crucial for me as well. 5. Quito has a decent “fun” factor with stunning natural landscape and a decent cultural world for a medium Latin American city. The first measure to improve liveability would be to improve the transportation system, which suffers from some of the worst conditions I have ever had to deal with. City traffic is chaos and the car dominates while other transportation options are of abysmal quality. This leads to appalling air quality and a lack of “walkable” communities, which seriously hampers quality of life! If I had to move I would go to Paris, Barcelona or Geneva. All the places have a great transportation system, splendid healthcare, amazing cultural activities, a plentiful natural environment with beautiful parks and public areas, and are rather safe places to be. Despite it's shortcomings Quito's natural surroundings and it's mountains make it a truly magnificent place to live.! ![enter image description here][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14441866349337482.jpg