Taipei this year fell from 33rd to 53rd in the “world’s most livable cities” ranking, an annual report published on Wednesday by The Economist said.
With the tagline “Life is getting back to normal, if not quite everywhere,” the report included 33 more cities in its annual “most livable cities” list this year for a total of 172 locations.
The Economist also included Taichung in the rankings, with a score of 80 to 90, similar to that of Taipei, but without indicating the city’s ranking.
Photo: Bloomberg
The Economist Intelligence Unit said that the Vienna replaced Auckland as the world’s most livable city, giving it back the title it held in 2018 and 2019.
In naming Vienna as an appealing city to live in, the unit and its survey noted the availability of entertainment venues as the local COVID-19 situation eases, well-rounded and stable infrastructure, and commendable healthcare.
The unit attributed Auckland’s drop to 34th this year to New Zealand’s COVID-19 response measures and the effects of the pandemic there.
Europe took six of the top 10 spots, with Copenhagen placing second in the rankings, followed by Zurich in third and Geneva, Switzerland, in sixth.
Frankfurt, Germany, took the seventh spot, while Amsterdam was ninth.
In North America, Calgary, Canada, shared the third spot with Zurich, while Vancouver took fifth and Toronto the eighth spot.
Osaka, Japan, and Melbourne shared the 10th spot.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
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