British magazine Monocle, specializing in lifestyles and global trends, has named Tokyo a city most livable in the world in its annual quality of life survey. Since I first made this list 9 years ago, this has been the first year in which Tokyo has topped the ranking. Last year, for example, it obtained second place. Other Japanese cities such as Fukuoka (12th) and Kyoto (14th), also achieved good positions, slipping into the top 25.
Several significant changes have been observed in this latest ranking. For example, Vienna, a city that last year obtained sixth place, has climbed to the second step of the podium. For its part, Berlin has also improved on last year’s results, going from 14th place to 3rd. Another of the cities that has experienced a notable improvement has been Sydney, replacing the 11th step with the 5th.
However, among the cities with a negative evolution, the most notable is the three-time champion of the Copenhagen event, which fell to tenth place. Other leading cities that have obtained worse results than in previous editions have been Helsinki, Munich and Zurich.
Monocle adapted and modified the survey system used, adding 22 new criteria, including the median price of a 3-bedroom home, the price of a cup of coffee, a glass of wine and a menu, and accessibility to the outdoors.
Even so, the backbone of the block of indicators analyzed continues to be made up of more traditional criteria such as the crime rate, health infrastructure, education and care for the environment. In addition, as the magazine explains, the survey has also taken into account intangible aspects such as commitment to culture.
In the words of Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brule, expressed last Thursday: “We have tried to give value to those places where there are aspects that are so important to us, such as freedom or independence. We disagree with the municipalities that show their negative attitude at the first exchange, places where parents do not allow their children to run free and capitals that are reluctant to support nighttime activities.”
This ranking somewhat upsets the majority opinion (especially Western) on what an exemplary habitable city should be like. When we talk about habitability, we all think of Swiss, Canadian, Danish, Swedish cities… This list, published by Monocle, shows us a slightly different vision of the term habitability, since it adds something new to the usual cities of this type. of classifications.