Article: Brisbane behind Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide as most liveable

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Brisbane behind Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide as most liveable

Brisbane behind Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide as most liveable
Article from: The Courier-Mail

February 12, 2010 10:40am

FOUR Australian cities have made the top ten most liveable cities in the world, according to a new index, but Brisbane is not among them.

Vancouver, host of the Winter Olympics, topped the latest annual survey by The Economist.

It scored 98 out of 100 on a comparison of stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure, culture and environment.

Canada's Toronto and Calgary also scored, while Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide made the top 10.

Brisbane lagged behind at 21.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey ranked 140 cities on 30 factors - such as healthcare, culture and environment, and education - using research involving resident experts and its own analysts.

Los Angeles ranked at 47, New York at 56 and London took 54th position.

Zimbabwe's capital Harare scored as the world's worst city, with a rating of 37.5.

Top ten cities were: 1. Vancouver 2. Vienna 3. Melbourne 4. Toronto 5. Calgary 6. Helsinki 7. Sydney 8. Perth 9. Adelaide 10. Auckland

Bottom ten cities were: 1. Harare 2. Dhaka 3. Algiers 4. Port Moresby 5. Lagos 6. Karachi 7. Douala 8. Kathmandu 9. Colombo 10. Dakar

I wonder if putting public transport and people first in Vancouver (rather than roads) has anything to do with it?   

[#Metro]

Even Harare (Zimbabwe, bottom of the list) appears to have higher density than Brisbane.
Perth appears to have the lowest density of all, but they have the 15 min rail frequency! Go figure?

Densities are in persons/km2

Harare : 2179 /km2
Vancouver : 5335/km2

Sydney : 2058/km2
Melbourne : 1566 /km2
Adelaide: 1295 / km2
Brisbane : 918 / km2
Perth: 289 / km2

www.ruaf.org/system/files?file=poster(harare).pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelaide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perth,_Western_Australia

[verbatim9]

Both Vancouver and Vienna have world class Transport systems among other things. No wonder Brisbane didnt get a mention; They make Public transport so Political, its becoming a bit of a mind drain.

[O_128]

What is brisbane though. I would like to know the density for BCC

[#Metro]

Hi O_128

Area of the BCC area is 1367 km2
The population is 1,027,847
which gives a density of ~ 752.

The actual number is probably higher as the statistics may exclude visitors, tourists, recent arrivals etc and the data itself could be up to 4 years old (last census 2006).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_City_Council
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_density

[#Metro]

http://bce.com.au/index.php?page=example-projects-3
http://bce.com.au/index.php?page=transport

Found something interesting while I was searching...
Ever wondered why BCC Buses & Ferries are on the ball?
Apparently they had a hand in the Olympics...

[mufreight]

Yes BT did and performed well, but at that time BT ran its own race and did not labour under the handicap of a disfunctional Translink Transit Authority drumbeat.

[stephenk]

Brisbane will not be able to climb the list of liveable cities until we have half-decent public transport. Campbell Newman's road tunnel obsession is not helping matters.

[#Metro]

It looks like the tunnels will go ahead because the BCC does not feel the cost for construction (as the private sector pays for it and then imposes a toll).

While it is unlikely that the tunnels can be stopped, they do provide two opportunities for PT that should not be left by the wayside:

* The imposition of a toll makes, for the first time, most people pay for the road that they use, effectively like a congestion tax.
* A car in the tunnel is one not on the surface road- the road should be reclaimed for pedestrians (wider paths), bikeways and public transport (light rail, busways, BRT) rather than just be left for cars.

[longboi]

Brisbane's weather also played a part in the poor rating. Our humid climate doesn't fare well in The Economists quality of life criteria.

[dwb]

Is it people density or passenger density that is really the important figure? Can have a high passenger density even with a low population density if a high majority use transit. That is what Brisbane needs to deal with, conversion, not only providing transit where there is higher population density but everyone still drives!