Archinect - News

Boston rolls out new green infrastructure requirements for public works projects

2022-11-01T14:17:00-04:00

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has announced a new policy mandating the use of small-scale green infrastructure on curb extension projects throughout the city.

A set of five design standards will be introduced to help expand the adaptation and maintenance of the measures with the larger aim of improving pedestrian safety and bolstering climate resilience of the city’s crowded walkways and streetscapes.

“These new design standards will allow the City to continue enhancing our streets as public spaces for everyone,” Boston’s Chief of Streets, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, said in a statement. “These curb extensions help keep our neighborhood safe by slowing cars and making street crossing easier for pedestrians and now they can also benefit our quality of life by providing more green space in our City.”

Boston planners say the policy will eventually lead to the implementation of green infrastructure into large-scale capital projects, combining with its recently-proposed ban on fossil fuels in new ...

Vienna is back on top of the EIU list of the world’s most livable cities

2022-06-28T17:32:00-04:00

After two years, Vienna has overtaken Auckland as the world’s most livable city, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The EIU said that Auckland’s position on the index dipped to the 34th spot this year because of higher Covid-19 infection rates and strict border controls in 2021. Although lockdowns ended in New Zealand in December, well-vaccinated cities in Europe and Canada had begun easing restrictions earlier.

The Austrian capital was joined by Copenhagen, Zurich, Geneva, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam as the other European cities on the list. Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Osaka, and Melbourne rounded out the Top 10 of the 172-city sampling.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine also impacted the makeup of the list, as did the Chinese government’s political crackdowns on Hong Kong, causing a loss of connectivity and cultural freedoms which dropped the city to 62nd overall.

Vienna defends top spot in Global Liveability Index with 'near-perfect' score in infrastructure, education, health care, culture

2019-09-05T14:43:00-04:00

On the EIU’s index, which ranks 140 cities on 30 factors bunched into five categories—stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure—Vienna scores a near-perfect 99.1 out of 100, putting it just ahead of Melbourne. [...] Higher crime rates and ropey infrastructure pull some bigger cities like London, New York and Paris down the league table, despite their cultural and culinary attractions.

Having seemingly cracked the 'perfect-city' formula, Vienna, once again, has topped a major global livability ranking. As The Economist reports, the Austrian capital scored a "near-perfect 99.1 out of 100," followed immediately by its perennial quality-of-life rival, Melbourne.

Unsurprisingly, the list of top-ranking locations contains familiar livability heavy hitters from Australia and Canada with a couple of Japanese cities entering the mix:

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Toronto, Canada
7. Tokyo, Japan
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia

The highest-ranking U.S. city was Honolulu at 22nd. Atlanta came in at 33rd, closely followed by Pittsburgh at 34th, Seattle at 36th, and Washington, D.C. at 40th.

The Global Liveability Index 2019. Video via The Economist Intelligence Unit on YouTube.

Dominating the bottom of the list of the 140 surveyed cities are rapidly urbanizing metro areas in de...

Vienna leads globally in affordable housing and quality of life

2018-07-25T15:05:00-04:00

With its affordable and attractive places to live, the Austrian capital is fast becoming the international gold standard when it comes to public housing, or what Europeans call “social housing” ― in Vienna’s case, government-subsidized housing rented out by the municipality or nonprofit housing associations. Unlike America’s public housing projects, which remain unloved and underfunded...

In Vienna 62% of its citizens reside in public housing, standing in stark contrast with less than 1% living in US social housing. The Austrian capital boasts regulated rents and strongly protects tenant's rights, while US public housing functions as a last resort for low-income individuals. Earlier this year Vienna was listed at the top of Mercer's Quality of Living Ranking, beating every city in the world for the ninth year in a row. Needless to say US cities have much to learn from Vienna's urban housing model.

How good can Swedish nature make you feel in 72 hours?

2017-09-30T17:30:00-04:00

This is the question a new case-study, '72 Hour Cabin', seeks to answer. Launched by Sweden, the experiment will investigate the effects of living in nature on health by taking five participants with some of the most stressful jobs and placing them in a custom-built glass cabin.

During the day, they will have access to common Swedish outdoor activities such as swimming, fishing and cooking. Their well-being, measured by stress-levels, problem-solving capabilities and creativity, will be monitored by two leading researchers, Walter Osika and Cecilia Stenfors, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, one of the world’s foremost medical universities. Participants include a broadcaster from London, a taxi driver from Paris, an event co-ordinator from New York, a police officer from Munich, and a journalist from London.

The five glass cabins these participants will be staying in were designed by architecture student Jeanna Berger, who enlisted her brother-in-laws, who run a construc...

Melbourne named world’s most liveable city for seventh consecutive year

2017-08-18T18:38:00-04:00

Melbourne, Australia has been ranked as the most “liveable” city in the world for the seventh consecutive year by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The EIU’s benchmark annual report titled “The Global Liveability Report 2017,” ranks 140 cities in order of best living conditions. Melbourne’s 97.5 score is down to perfect assessments in health care, education, and infrastructure, as well as hitting over 95 in stability, and culture and environment.

As in previous years, the top 10 list is mostly comprised of major cities in Australia and Canada, while Vienna — once again — barely misses the first spot by 0.1 percentage points overall. Auckland, Helsinki, and Hamburg manage to claim some coveted spots at the top for their respective countries.

The world's top cities for liveability in 2017 are:

Melbourne, Australia
Vienna, Austria
Vancouver, Canada
Toronto, Canada
Calgary, Canada
Adelaide, Australia
Perth, Australia
Auckland, New Zealand
Helsinki, Finland
Hamburg, Germany

Melbourne is world’s most liveable city for fifth consecutive year

2015-08-20T15:24:00-04:00

In any event, it's as you were for the "haves" at the top of list, with Melbourne taking the top spot for a fifth year running, with Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Adelaide/Calgary (tied at 5) completing the top five most livable cities in 2015. [...] these cities have "relatively few challenges to living standards," and enjoy a good infrastructure, healthcare system and a low murder rate. Unsurprisingly, Damascus remains the least livable city, with Syria embroiled in a bloody civil war.

Other articles related to liveability on Archinect:

Melbourne named world’s most liveable city for fourth consecutive year

2014-08-19T19:10:00-04:00

The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) claims its annual Liveability Survey could be used to "assign a hardship allowance as part of expatriate relocation packages," among other things. But that needn't apply to those in Melbourne, which for the fourth year running has been declared the best city in the world to live. The Australian culture hub was buoyed by superlative healthcare, infrastructure and education as well as a murder rate of 3.1 per 100,000 people, half the global average of 6.2.

While three Canadian cities made the ranking's top 10 (again), U.S. cities keep failing to score high.

The world's top cities for liveability are:

1. Melbourne, Australia

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Vancouver, Canada

4. Toronto, Canada

=5. Adelaide, Australia

=5. Calgary, Canada

7. Sydney, Australia

8. Helsinki, Finland

9. Perth, Australia

10. Auckland, New Zealand

Daily chart: Where the living is easier

2012-03-14T21:05:00-04:00

THE Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, has devised a new index which ranks the competitiveness of the most prominent cities across the globe using a number of economic, demographic and social variables. The 120 cities in the index are home to some 750m people and $20.2 trillion worth of GDP, 29% of the world's total.