London-based Monocle magazine announced their annual ranking of the world’s most livable cities for 2013 and for the second year in a row Fukuoka ranks 12th. Copenhagen placed first followed by Melbourne, Helsinki, and Tokyo. Kyoto was the only other city in Japan to make the cut, just after Fukuoka at 13th spot. The magazine praised Fukuoka as a model compact city saying its residents enjoy a smaller, greener, more relaxed version of what bigger urban centres offer, and as a convenient base for businesses eyeing an expansion into Asia. “Fukuoka has clean air, mountains and sea close by, a thriving dining and arts scene, and research centres belonging to some of the world’s top hi-tech companies. But the city has struggled to halt a brain drain of college graduates and its efforts to set up a bicycle-rental system, promote local farmers and make better use of oceanfront property have been too tentative or fallen short.” Full report on the top 25 cities is in Monocle’s July/August issue and online (for subscribers) here: http://monocle.com/magazine/issues/65/
Full list of top 25 in 2013 (2012 results):
1 Copenhagen (3)
2 Melbourne (6)
3 Helsinki (2)
4 Tokyo (7)
5 Vienna (4)
6 Zürich (1)
7 Stockholm (10)
8 Munich (5)
9 Sydney (8)
10 Auckland (9)
11 Hong Kong (13)
12 Fukuoka (12)
13 Kyoto (11)
14 Paris (14)
15 Singapore (15)
16 Hamburg (16)
17 Honolulu (17)
18 Madrid (20)
19 Vancouver (19)
20 Berlin (18)
21 Barcelona (21)
22 Amsterdam (not ranked) 23 Portland (22)
24 San Francisco (23)
Full report on the top 25 cities is in Monocle’s July/August issue and online (for subscribers) here: http://monocle.com/magazine/issues/65/
