8/13/2019 Text: Best Cities in the World

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Answers on page 44

1 Pre-readingWhat makes a good city? Usethe prompts below to think ofsix factors.

Other?

2 Reading IWhich cities do you think arethe best in the world? Think ofthree. Then, read the article tocompare your ideas.

3 Reading IIRead the article again. Then,answer the questions.1. Which magazine named

Melbourne as the bestcity in the world?

2. How many cities arerated for the GlobalLiveability Report?

3. How many points didMelbourne score?

4. Which city came out topin the Mercer Quality ofLiving Survey?

5. In The Economists otherreport, which city cameout on top?

6. Which city is mostpopular with tourists?

WHAT ARE THE BESTCITIES IN THE WORLD?

Whats the best cityin the world? Everyyear, three different

organisations try to answerthat question. So, whatare the results? And doeseveryone agree?

According to The Economist,the best city in the world isMelbourne (Australia). Thatsthe result of the magazineslatest Global Liveability Report,which it publishes every sixmonths. The report rates140 cities worldwide andgives each one a score from0 100. Points are awardedfor stability, access to healthcare, culture, environmentand infrastructure. Melbournescored 97.5. The report praisedthe citys low crime rate,excellent infrastructure andeasy access to parks. Othercities in The Economists top10 were Vienna (Austria),

Vancouver (Canada) andSydney (Australia).

A similar report is the MercerQuality of Living Survey. Inthe last survey(in 2011), itnamed Vienna (Austria) asthe worlds best city, followedby Zurich (Switzerland)and then Auckland (NewZealand). And it said themost eco-friendly city in theworld is Calgary, Canada.

Lifestyle magazine Monoclealso releases an annual topcity list. In 2012 they decidedMunich (Germany) was thebest place to live because

of its connectivity, culturalcentres and abundance ofgreen space.

But what about famous citiessuch as New York, Parisand London? Why arentthey in any of the top 10lists? Theyre packed withfascinating museums andart galleries, full of great barsand restaurants and theresalways a lot going on. Well,apparently, famous citiesoften lose points because ofcrime, traffic and inadequateinfrastructure. For example,Monoclesaid that althoughHong Kong is vibrantandexciting, traffic congestion,air quality, housing andconservationall needattention.

And of course, not everyoneagrees with the best citylists. Some criticise them

for preferring quieter, morerelaxed cities. They arguethat many people actuallywant to live in more hectic,bustlingcities. In fact, onejournalist interviewed peoplein Melbourne and discoveredthat lots of Melbourneresidents want to live inParis or New York. So, TheEconomisthas publishedanother report. This newreport gives more weight

tothings that big, famouscities dooffer (such as lots ofculture and ethnic diversity).And guess where it decidedthe best place to live is? Hong

Kong. Also in the top ten areTokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin andParis.

But what about tourists?Whats their favourite city?According to a recent surveyby travel website TripAdvisor,tourists rate London as thebest city to visit. One travellercommented online, I lovevisiting London. Theresjust so much to do. Youalmost need a month to seeit. The city is rich in history,nostalgia, beauty andpubs. It has something foreveryone!

So, whats your favourite city?

traffic green space

museums and art galleries

population density

crime rates pollution

historypublic transport

cultural events buildings

Objective: to learn to talk about your city and to say what you like and dislike about it.

Do you like your city? Why? Why not? How would you improve it? What city would you like to live in?

Think about it!

stabilitynif theres stability, things are calm /peaceful and dont changeinfrastructurenbasic facilities in a city such as transport,power supplies, buildings, etc. which enablethe city to functionto praisevbto say good things about somethinga surveynif you carry out a survey, you try to findinformation about a topic by asking peoplequestionsconnectivitynif a city has connectivity, it's wellorganised and easy to move aroundan abundance ofexpa lot ofgoing onexphappeningvibrantadjfull of life and energyconservation nthe practice of saving and protecting oldbuildingshecticadjif a city is hectic, theres a lot ofmovement of traffic / people, etc.bustlingadjif a city is bustling, there are a lot ofpeople moving around doing thingsto give more weight toexpto give more importance toethnic diversitynwith people from lots of different ethnicgroups / countries, etc.

GLOSSARY