Manchester named the most liveable city in the UK
“Manchester’s reputation and position as a global city continues to grow in strength.”
Manchester has once again been named the most liveable city in the UK.
We have been ranked 38th in a global list compiled by The Economist based on factors such as political and social stability, crime rates, education and access to healthcare.
Manchester is the highest ranked city in Britain, beating the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham.
London was ranked 48th, BusinessLive reports.
Vienna is ranked top spot out of all 140 cities in the list, with Melbourne and Sydney taking second and third respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, Caracas in Venezuela, Algiers in Algeria and Douala in Cameroon are the lowest ranked.
Manchester has held top spot for Britain every year since the ‘Global Livability Index’ was launched in 2011.
Business bosses praised our city’s quality of life as a crucial factor in attracting a number of firms to relocate here from the capital in recent years.
Sheona Southern, managing director at Marketing Manchester, which aims to promote Greater Manchester, said: “This ranking recognises Manchester as a great place to live, with a growing cultural scene, vibrant food and drink offering and a thriving night-time economy.
“It is clear why growing numbers of people from the UK and across the world are attracted to live, work and study here.
She continued: “Manchester’s ranking in the index has improved by 13 places over the last five years despite concerns about global issues such as Brexit, and the city has come out top in the UK every year since the index began in 2011.
“Measured by factors including environment, healthcare, education, culture and infrastructure, this is a good indicator that Manchester’s reputation and position as a global city continues to grow in strength.”
Tim Newns, CEO of MIDAS, Greater Manchester’s inward investment agency, said the achievement was “fantastic” as liveability plays a key role in a firm’s investment-making decisions.
He said: “We have recently seen an increasing number of London-based companies relocate to or expand into Manchester – including TalkTalk and Fitch Group – and the city region’s outstanding quality of life offer is regularly cited as a key driver for doing so.
“It is this offer, which includes incredibly strong career prospects, high-quality affordable housing and an excellent cultural and entertainment offering, that enables us to continue attracting world-leading companies and talent to Greater Manchester despite economic uncertainty; and that assisted MIDAS in supporting the creation of a record number of jobs – 4,380 – for the city region in the last financial year.”
The report said the index remains dominated by medium-sized cities in wealthy countries.
It said: “These cities have well-funded public healthcare systems, compulsory and high-quality education, and functional road and rail infrastructure.
“The provision of these services is assisted by the presence of fully democratic electoral systems and generally low levels of corruption.
“Maintaining these levels of performance in cities with two, three or four times as many people is challenging, especially when such cities also tend to be greater magnets for crime and terrorism.
“This is why other large “global” cities in advanced economies, such as London and New York, score lower than Vienna and Melbourne (and Tokyo) for stability and infrastructure but are able to match (or exceed) them for culture and environment.”
The ten most liveable cities 2019:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Toronto, Canada
8. Tokyo, Japan
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia
The ten least liveable cities 2019:
1. Caracas, Venezuela
2. Algiers, Algeria
3. Douala, Cameroon
4. Harare, Zimbabwe
5. Port Moresby, PNG
6. Karachi, Pakistan
7. Tripoli, Libya
8. Dhaka, Bangladesh
9. Lagos, Nigeria
10. Damascus, Syria
Source: Manchester Evening News
