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The Economist magazine this week named Vancouver as the world' s third most liveable city, only after Australia's Melbourne and Austria's Vienna.
In its yearly poll, the magazine ranked 140 of the best cities to live, based on factors such as political stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.
Vancouver' s top city planner, Brian Jackson, who is Vancouver City General Manager of Planning and Development, called the latest ranking an enormous accomplishment for the city.
"I think it' s the transit that we have, it' s the walk-ability, it' s scenic beauty of the city, and it' s the ability of people to mingle together in public spaces in desirable areas," Jackson told Xinhua while explaining the reason of the top ranking of Vancouver.
Vancouver residents were not surprised to hear the news, given that Vancouver routinely tops other similar lists thanks to its mild climate, comfortable neighborhoods, low crime rate and beautiful scenery.
Vancouver resident Alison Seto said it was natural for Vancouver to be listed on the top. But for him personally, "I love how walk-able the city is and the beautiful weather, and all the parks and trees."
Another Vancouverite Louise Docherty said he loved the weather here most.
"Well, it doesn' t get too cold in the winter. This year I was able to ride my bike with the bike trailer pretty much all year. It rains sometimes in winter, but it' s not too bad."
However, just because it is one of the most liveable cities in the world and attracts many immigrants to settle down here each year, the souring price in real estate sector and high living costs sometimes even drive the local residents away to other surrounding cities. Officials and experts have predicted that an additional 1 million people will move to Greater Vancouver within the next three decades.
Frances Bula, a Vancouver city affairs columnist, said, "I' m sure it' s not a surprise to anyone that Vancouverites are really anxious about the level of foreign capital flowing into the city, about buildings that get built that seem to be primarily for investors, or for people who come here for three months of the year on vacation."
Bula told Xinhua Vancouver municipal officials have worked effectively to turn downtown Vancouver into a dense residential area while also ensuring there are enough schools, parks and other public spaces to keep people happy and comfortable.
"Throughout the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, there was a tremendous consensus between the politicians, the planners and the developers, which is important, that development shouldn' t be just sticking up a bunch of buildings," she added.
Jackson echoed Bula's opinion, saying it was very worrisome that the people who were considered middle class in other cities could not afford to live in the City of Vancouver due to the high housing prices.
He said officials were now working with developers to add affordable rental housing and new housing to the local market. The number of new or soon-to-be-built housing units is the highest since the 1960s, he said.
