Uploaded on 2017-06-27 by Fernando Ceña Martínez

THE IMAGES OF THE CITIES ARE NOT MINE A) LIST OF THE FIVE MOST LIVEABLE CITIES IN MY OWN EXPERIENCE: 1.- Montreal (Canada) 2.- Madrid (Spain) 3.- New York City (United States); example used to describe in the third step the five characteristics of a liveable city 4.- Soria (Spain) 5.- Philadelphia (United States) B) LIST OF THE FIVE CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE A CITY LIVEABLE: 1.- Cleanliness and availability of a system for safe trash disposal (recycling included) 2.- Connectivity understood at two levels: connectivity inside of the own city and connectivity in relation to other cities 3.- Access to high quality food through local vendors and food markets 4.- An adequate balance between energy consumption and comfort in interior spaces 5.- Availability of green or natural areas C) DESCRIPTION OF MY OWN CITY ACCORDING TO THE FIVE CHARACTERISTICS LISTED ABOVE: NEW YORK CITY I place New York in the middle position of my list because I think that as a city it does not fit my five characteristic of a liveable city completely due to its size. First, regarding the cleanliness of the city and the trash disposal network, it cannot score high because compare to a city like Madrid, it does not exist a public or private service that takes care of every aspect for keeping a city in healthy conditions. For example, in New York there are not street cleaners, so each building property has to take care of their own part of the sidewalk, what turns out to be an undefined situation in some areas. Therefore, the differences between the rich areas of the city and the deprived ones are more conspicuous than in cities like Madrid or Montreal. Regarding the connectivity of the city, the public transport system in New York works surprisingly well bearing in mind the size of the city. However, coming back to the first point in relation to this, New York City Subway is dirtier than the subways of Madrid or Montreal. In the case of Montreal it is also mesmerising the high quality of the service, punctuality and cleanliness alike. From the point of view of the connectivity with other cities in the United States or other major ones around the world, it is undeniable that living in New York means having direct connections with most of them, despite the geographical location of the city. Third, the access to high quality food is relatively easy when you live in a city like New York, although not reasonably affordable. In fact, simply agreeable food markets are a luxurious feature inside the city. This is something frustrating compared to Montreal, Madrid or even a small city like Soria. Respecting the balance of energy consumption and comfort inside the buildings New York City, like Philadelphia, score very low in these five cities listed. Generally, there is an over consumption of energy all the year to keep absurd high temperatures in winter and cold temperatures in summer. In fact, it is like if the seasons when being inside a building would have been reversed: during winter you feel like if it was summer and vice versa. Finally, New York City has numerous and generous green areas in all its neighbourhoods. Just simply think about Central Park. However, it is true that these green areas are isolated areas inside the city, instead of spaces that you have to cross to move around the city, which is possibly a generic inconvenience of any large settlement. WAYS TO IMPROVE THESE FIVE CHARACTERISTICS All in all, the stakeholders to raise these five standards are two: the local authorities and the citizens. On one hand, the administration should implement actions to improve these characteristics of a liveable cities through different campaigns and urban planning. For example, new types of green spaces that connect different parts of the city could be an alternative to the traditional parks. The balance of energy consumption and comfort could also be improved by modifying the legislation over the types of insulation used in the buildings making buildings more energy efficient. On the other hand, supporting local farmers could help to improve the quality of food and in the long term generate a greener economy, as there would be no need to import so many products from other areas, reducing the cost of transportation. Simultaneously, citizens have also the power to change these conditions through their daily actions. Helping to keep the public space clean or being more conscious about energy consumption can help to solve the greater challenges.