What are the best cities to live in Europe and North America? See updated ranking

In Vienna, the art of wellbeing is called the art of living, and since the restaurants and museums in the Austrian capital have reopened, the city is once again the perfect place to practice it. New research on quality of life indices from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a company associated with the magazine, agrees. For the third time in the last five years, Vienna leads the EIU ranking.

The city offers many opportunities for culture and entertainment, as well as good infrastructure and stability in general. Another five European small cities appear in the top 10, also benefiting from the easing of antiCovid19 restrictions. But since last year Paris and Londonwhich usually don’t show up so well in the rankings due to problems inherent in big cities like congestion and crime, rose 23 and 27 places respectively to 19th and 33rd as they start to view Covid as endemic rather than a Pandemic.

Originally designed as a tool to help companies allocate allowances to mitigate difficulties in relocating expatriates, the EIU Index assesses living conditions in 172 cities (up from 140 last year) based on more than 30 indicators , which are grouped into 5 categories: Stability, Culture and Environment, Healthcare, Education and Infrastructure. This is the second year that the Index includes Covidrelated indicators that analyze how each city has dealt with increased demand for medical facilities and closures or restrictions on attendance at schools, restaurants and cultural institutions.

The partial return to normal is not limited to Western Europe. Three Canadian cities made the top 10 new York🇧🇷 Los Angeles and Washington, D.C improved ranking compared to the previous year. According to The Economist’s Normality Index, which measures travel, recreation and office use, activities are in US and not Canada it is now ninetenths of prepandemic levels.

Global activity is now about onesixth below predawn levels Coronavirus🇧🇷 This is reflected in the overall average quality of life, which has almost returned to normal.

For some cities to rise in the ranking, others must fall behind. All cities in it China have fallen off the index, and cities and island nations with strong border controls that worked well a year ago are now suffering.

Auckland topped the rankings last year, with few Covid cases and very few restrictions. But in March, when the research was being conducted, the highly contagious Omicron variant was causing a surge in Covid cases in the United States. New Zealand and the city plummeted 33 places.

THE war in Ukraine also affects the quality of life. Kyiv it was not evaluated in 2022 because the EIU correspondent had to stop the survey when the conflict broke out. Moscow and St. Petersburg fell 15 and 13 places to 80th and 88th, respectively, as hundreds of Western companies pulled out of the Russia and censorship increased. Other cities directly affected by the war, such as Budapest and Warsawsaw their stability scores drop as geopolitical tensions increased.

As the war continues, more cities could experience food and fuel disruptions. This year’s welcome rise in quality of life indices may be shortlived.

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For many in Western Europe, the pandemic is a thing of the past. A small minority still wear masks and lockdowns have become a distant, perhaps painful, memory. This return to normality is reflected in the survey of quality of life indices produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Most of the cities with the best quality of life are in Western Europe in this year’s ranking: Vienna has taken the top spot for the third time in five years. two other cities, Copenhagen and Zurichare in the top 5. But how does the rest of the continent fare?

People walk on the ornate Dorner Platz in Vienna; The capital of Austria was voted the most livable city in the world. Photo: Leonhard Foeger/Portal

The reopening of cities across western Europe has brought average rates for the region back to something close to prepandemic norms. This makes Western Europe the region with the best quality of life in the world.

On the overall list, all but one major improvement this year has been in Western Europe (with the exception of Los Angeles, which has climbed 18 spots). The cities that have risen the most are German. Dusseldorf🇧🇷 Frankfurt and Hamburg improved their quality of life thanks to big leaps in cultural indicators that appeared after the relaxation of antiCovid measures.

Not all corners of the continent have seen the same improvements. In comparison, Eastern European cities are recovering more slowly from the quality of life slumps of the Covid era; the average index in the east is now 20 points lower than in the west. Already strained healthcare systems have been overwhelmed by slow immunizations; Many cities remain steeped in corruption.

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Istanbulthe only city in Turkey included in the ranking, represented the worst index in Europe. The increasingly authoritarian leadership of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoganand painful inflation lowered the quality of life. Bakucapital of Azerbaijan one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, according to anticorruption group Transparency International is the secondworst city in terms of quality of life in Europe, the EIU finds.

Moscow and St. Petersburg fell as the regime of Wladimir Putin became more and more suppressed. Analysts at EIU were unable to complete their poll in Kyiv after Putin’s invasion, but the Ukrainian capital has occupied last or secondtobottom spot in European rankings since 2014.

The war will continue to leave its mark on large parts of Europe. Inflation is hitting Europeans hard, given the dependence of many countries on the continent on Russian gas. Higher prices make the goodies of urban living less accessible. And a looming recession will cloud life after lockdown.

The best places to live in North America are in Canada. More than 630,000 people moved to North America from multiple countries in the first half of 2022, a 51% increase from the same period last year. It’s easy to see why. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking, the region is home to some of the best cities to live in on the planet.

This year, all North American cities included in the ranking scored above 80 (out of 100), with an average of 88. This makes North America the second best region in the world to live in, just behind Europe Western. Which cities stood out?

The photo shows the Saddledome Arena in Calgary, Canada; According to The Economist, the city was voted as the best in North America to live in. Photo: Todd Korol/The New York Times

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Anyone looking for a new home should consider this Calgary🇧🇷 The Canadian city scored 96 points, more than any other city in North America. It’s not the first time at the top: Calgary has been the region’s best city twice in the past decade.

Vancouver🇧🇷 Toronto and Montréal took the next three places. Residents in these four Canadian cities enjoy high levels of health care and education. Vaccination with booster doses against Covid19 and the rapid reopening of schools during the pandemic favored the high scores.

The highest ranked city in the United States was Atlanta, which ranks fifth in the region’s overall ranking. Los Angeles, the region’s highestrising city in the rankings, rose from 15th to 9th thanks to big gains in cultural categories after authorities eased capacity restrictions on facilities and public events in February.

New York, meanwhile, was at the bottom at No. 21 two places behind its prepandemic ranking. The city fared poorly in terms of stability and infrastructure (as New Yorkers worried about high crime rates or overcrowding on the aging subway know).

Mexico did not make the EIU’s North American rankings, but its cities were among the bottom 50 in the global survey. When it comes to quality of life, it seems the further north the better./ TRANSLATION BY GUILHERME RUSSO