Vancouver world's easiest city to live in, Harare worst: poll

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2009

LONDON (AFP) — Vancouver is the world's easiest city to live in while Harare is the toughest, a survey said Monday putting Europe and north America at the top while many African and Asian cities struggle behind.

Canadian and Australian cities hold six of the top 10 slots in the Economist Intelligence Unit's liveability poll, which ranks cities on five factors: health-care, stability, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

"At the other end of the ranking, most of the poorest-performing locations are in Africa or Asia, where civil instability and poor infrastructure present significant challenges," said the survey's authors.

In ratings ranging from zero (intolerable) to 100 percent (ideal), Vancouver scores 98 percent, "benefiting from strong...