To kick off the,we chose four broad areas to examine in greater depth:weather and natural environment,open space and physical activity,social connections and relationships,and access to jobs and education.
The result was a series with 11,258 words,across 12 articles,as well as graphs,tables,maps,photos and cover art by.
We set out to avoid the politics,and focus more on the here-and-now than debate future changes. And,as with any project of this nature,our efforts were dependent on the quality of data,the relevance of recent research,and the availability of subject-matter experts and people with lived experience.
On some indicators,we were able to rank Brisbane and other cities. Some accounts were more subjective,or locally relevant. And we want our readers to help us improve our approach next time.
Some of the longer-running assessments in this space focus on countries rather than cities,and measure performance across different factors and topics.
For example,the OECD has a that compares countries by housing,income,jobs,community,education,environment,civic engagement,health,life satisfaction,safety and work-life balance.
Nonetheless,Brisbane’s liveability has been judged before (along with glowing accounts of) and even ranked.
The Economist Intelligence Unit has a that ranks cities based on how they score on stability (everything from crime to military conflict),healthcare,culture and environment,education and infrastructure. Brisbane is ranked 16th.
Early in the pandemic,Brisbane leapt ahead of Melbourne and Sydney - and - because other cities were struggling more with COVID-19.
But it didn’t take long for Brisbane to drop back down again because of how the EIU scored the city for its infrastructure.
“Brisbane has perfect scores in healthcare and education,along with very high scores in stability,and culture and environment,” the EIU toldBrisbane Times.
“However,in terms of infrastructure,it ranks below its national peers,owing to lower ratings in quality of road network,public transport and availability of good quality housing. The city has been witnessing increased traffic congestion on roads as well as policy hold-ups in its public transport systems.
“On the housing front,most Australian cities have been facing a crisis with low vacancy rates on rental properties and high costs,and Brisbane is no different here.”
We believe infrastructure is important to Brisbane’s future. It underpinned much of what we wrote about this week,and is an ongoing focus of our newsroom.
The Australian Urban Observatory publishes that score cities across a broad range of indicators,including access to off-licence alcohol outlets and proximity to supermarkets. We have drawn on some of their work in our reporting.
The federal government has a that looks at issues,and sometimes makes geographic comparisons. In late 2022,it took a closer look at south-east Queensland and ranked Brisbane the in the region - except when it came to accessible open space.
Brisbane City Council uses an online survey to assess perceptions of quality of life,as well as civic pride,priority issues and future outlook. In the latest survey,2494 people were surveyed,with a representative sample in Brisbane,Sydney,Melbourne,Perth and other parts of south-east Queensland.
While not intended to be scientific,the had 92 per cent of Brisbane residents giving positive scores when asked to rate their quality of life out of 10. That was down on the year before (94 per cent) but above Sydney (81 per cent) and Melbourne (80 per cent),although Perth remained in front (97 per cent).
Brisbane Times will continue to report the news in,and about,the city. We will also revisit the,and would welcome your feedback on the issues that are important to you and,of course,how you feel about the city in 2024.
Send your feedback above,leave a comment below and/or vote in the following poll.
The Brisbane Life Study was produced in collaboration with the Australian Science Media Centre,with support from the Walkley Foundation-administered Meta Public Interest Journalism Fund.