Uploaded on 2016-07-27 by David Dove

1. Which are your top livability criteria? From the list provided, my top 5 criteria for liveability are: 1. Economy 2. Environment 3. Education 4. Job Opportunities 5. Culture 2. Why do we live where we live? I currently live in Sydney, Australia. My key reasons are: 1. Positive Lifestyle 2. Climate 3. A well-educated community 4. Climate 5. Family 3. To what extend does your own place of residence fulfill your ideal livability criteria? I think Sydney ranks well on the criteria that I have listed as important for liveability. I note the reasons that I live here at the moment are somewhat different to the criteria in the first question, however this is related to my individual circumstances rather than my view of society as a whole. The rank I would give Sydney for my ideal liveability criteria would be 80%. On a more general level of liveability I would suggest that Sydney would rate more towards 75%, driven by some factors outside my ranking such as housing affordability. 4. What would you change? I believe there is a culture of resistance to urban change in Sydney, where any suggestion of change engenders opposition, and this opposition is given a huge voice. While this can be positive in some circumstances, many times it seems to be un-informed and/or self-appointed experts offering what ultimately is poorly founded reasoning of objection. This tends to frustrate the process of progress and strong progressive ideas can get watered down to a mere shadow of what they could have been. 5. Why do we move? The three cities I would prefer to move to would be: 1. Singapore 2. New York 3. Hong Kong Reasoning: 1. Global Cities: Each city is cosmopolitan with life, energy, diversity and a variety of experiences. 2. Food: Each city has great food, and a great diversity in that food. 3. Business (job) opportunity: Each of these cities would offer significant opportunities for my (and my wife’s) specialist skills and experience. 4. Good Urban Environment: Each of these cities offers a good and relatively safe urban environment, with access to waterfronts, parks and streets that are interesting and enjoyable. While all three are dense and hectic, they are walkable. 5. Economy: These cities have a buzz of business, prosperity and opportunity. They are places where you can be at the centre of what is happening, rather than looking on from the sidelines.