Quality of life: Covid upsets everything, orders Oceania

Remember the world rankings for quality of life, where Swiss or Scandinavian cities always take first place? Here, Covid has robbed us of that certainty, too. Although it is difficult to define living standards in a city, the Economist has tried again this year Liveability Report 2021, which cannot fail to take into account the often devastating effects of the epidemic. Thus Europe, which usually occupies the first positions, has been overtaken by the rest of the world, especially Oceania and Japan which occupied the first six places in order, Auckland, Osaka, Adelaide, Wellington, Tokyo (Preparing to host the Olympics) Perth. Relegated to the bottom of the top ten are historic champions such as Geneva and Zurich, followed again by Melbourne and Brisbane.

The “enigma” was soon revealed: The Economist’s annual report, which examines 140 cities around the world (in Italy, Rome and Milan), is based on five rating categories, namely stability, culture, environment, education, infrastructure and healthcare. That’s why they always were The Prize for Countries Least Affected by the EpidemicEither because they responded immediately by closing borders and controlling the outbreak (in New Zealand only 26 people died from Covid), or because they agreed to live with the virus as much as possible, without punishing the activities and daily life of citizens, or because they were particularly quick in vaccinations. This last parameter explains, for example, the amazing jump in the rankings of Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii, which took 46 spots and ranked 14th. In the United States, the two comebacks of Houston and Miami, now in 28th and 31st places, also stand out.

Madrid also got 25 spots, the only European city that showed improvement, also making clear in this case the political choice not to make the closure too heavy: in the Spanish capital region, schools, bars and restaurants have been open since May 2020. With Madrid climbing 19 and Barcelona 22 positions To 16th place, Spain placed two cities in the top 20. The same cannot be said for Italy: according to The Economist Rome is the sixth city in the world to record the most pronounced decline. Today it is 57, 21 sites lower than last year, with a score of 77.3: “Everyday life is good, in general, but some aspects of life can be problematic,” the British newspaper’s report card. In general, everyday life is not bad, but some aspects can create problems. As soon as things improve he goes to Milan.

However, the worst setback is the one that occurred in Vienna, victorious in 2020 and only 12 today, as well as German cities, in which the Economist negatively rules over all hospital systems, and were put “under pressure” from the epidemic. Thus Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt lost 34, 29 and 28 places, respectively, to finish around 40-50 places. Also worth noting is Dublin’s volatility: Ireland is often referred to as the happy island of Europe, thanks to its tax system that has produced unprecedented growth and a lifestyle that many consider adorable. Nothing to do, covid city hit there too, today Dublin is only 51st city in the world where you live better, not much better than Rome. The absolute worst Damascus in Syria and Lagos in Nigeria, but neighboring Tripoli is also not kidding: 135 out of 140.