Travel secrets

Introduction

Due to my frequent travels, I've decided or try to keep a log of places I've been for future references. Hopefully, I manage to capture the names of foreign places and the details involved in each occasion.


According to Asiaweek in year 2000
The Top Ten

(http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/features/asiacities2000/index.html)
1. Tokyo, Japan
2. Fukuoka, Japan
3. Osaka, Japan
4. Singapore
5. Taipei, Taiwan
6. Georgetown (Penang), Malaysia
7. Hong Kong SAR, China
8. Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
10.Beijing, China


The Complete Rankings

11. Kuching
12. Macau
13. Shanghai
14. Cebu City
15. Kaohsiung
16. Metro Manila
17. Pusan
18. Seoul
19. Davao City
20. Chiang Mai
21. Guangzhou
22. Hanoi
23. Ho Chi Minh
24. Colombo
25. Islamabad
26. Bangkok
27. Bangalore
28. Kathmandu
29. Chongqing
30. Yangon
31. Chittagong
32. Delhi
33. Dhaka
34. Karachi
35. Jakarta
36. Phnom Penh
37. Bombay
38. Bandung
39. Surabaya
40. Vientiane


How we did it

There is no absolute yardstick for livability, but criteria usually include such matters as safe streets. In devising ours, Asiaweek looked at 24 indicators which come under such broad factors as transportation. Each carries a different score according to its weighting in the category. A city may lose points for foul air, for example, but gain marks for inexpensive housing. In a year in which the region has been battered by the Crisis, economic prospects or lack of them has been a decisive factor in how cities fared in relation to each other. The survey polled 40 selected cities in Asia, including all the major capitals. For some larger nations, we also ranked additional major centers. The main factors cover economic opportunity (15 possible points), quality of education (15), environment and sanitation (15), health care (15), transportation (10), personal security (10), housing cost (10), and leisure (10).

The indicators:

* average life expectancy
* hospital beds per 1,000 people
* per-capita state expenditure for education
* average class size in primary school
* university-educated people as a percentage of total population
* sulfur dioxide in the air (ppm)
* dust/suspended particles in the air - micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3)
* average monthly rental per sq meter
* ratio of housing price to income
* sq meter of parks and fields per capita
* vehicles per km of city road
* existence of a mass transit rail system
* number of movie theaters per 100,000
* unemployment rate
* GDP growth
* annual urban inflation rate
* vacation and public holidays per year
* criminal cases for every 10,000 persons
* number of telephones per 1,000 people
* average time taken to commute to work
* number of TV sets per 1,000 people
* percentage of population with sewerage
* percentage of population with piped water
* average income






But in year 2006, another source reveals differently (http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html)

Rank City
1 Zurich
2 Geneva
3 Vancouver
4 Vienna
5 Auckland
6 Düsseldorf
7 Frankfurt
8 Munich
9 Bern
9 Sydney
11 Copenhagen
12 Wellington
13 Amsterdam
14 Brussels
15 Toronto
16 Berlin
17 Melbourne
18 Luxembourg
18 Ottawa
20 Stockholm
21 Perth
22 Montreal
23 Nürnberg
24 Dublin
25 Calgary
26 Hamburg
27 Honolulu
28 San Francisco
29 Adelaide
29 Helsinki
31 Brisbane
31 Oslo
33 Paris
34 Singapore
35 Tokyo
36 Boston
37 Lyon
37 Yokohama
39 London
40 Kobe
41 Washington
41 Chicago
43 Portland
44 Barcelona
45 Madrid
46 New York City
47 Seattle
48 Lexington
49 Winston Salem
51 Osaka
51 Milan
51 Milan
53 Lisbon
53 Tsukuba

posted by Bernzie @ 8:53 PM