Hong Kong has seen a significant rebound in its position in ECA’s liveability rankings, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the city was offset by the fall in socio-political tensions and crime rates. This was one of the conclusions of the latest Location Ratings survey published by global mobility experts, ECA International.
“Hong Kong has rebounded in our latest liveability rankings after the protests seen throughout 2019 abated last year” said Lee Quane, Regional Director – Asia at ECA International. “Factors which were affected by the tensions in 2019, such as disruptions to the transportation network, recovered and crime rates fell.
Moreover, Hong Kong avoided typhoons of a scale similar to those which caused disruption to the city in 2019. However, despite the recovery overall, some areas of Hong Kong’s score did worsen, such as the freedom of news and media which has been impacted by recently introduced national security legislation, and Hong Kong’s ranking remains significantly lower than in 2018.”
Other highlights include Singapore, which has impressively maintained its spot as the most liveable location for Asian expats, continuing a trend which stretches back to 2005. This supremacy is attributed to highly competitive infrastructure, low pollution, and a high concentration of expat communities.
Meanwhile, Australian cities all dropped significantly in the rankings. Brisbane and Adelaide fell out of the top ten most liveable places, while Sydney fell from 3rd place last year to 21st. This was affected by a number of factors, the primary reason being the strict lockdown measures which were introduced in some areas of the country.
The Taiwanese capital Taipei has climbed back into the top 50 most liveable locations after maintaining the same score as last year while many other locations fell. While the main reason for reclaiming its spot in the top 50 is due to a drop in ranking of other countries, the low number of confirmed Covid-19 cases contributed to its score.
