Manchester has officially been named the 28th most liveable in the world, according to a prestigious annual ranking.
And our city has ranked quite a bit higher than some other heavy-hitters.
The new Global Liveability Index for 2022 – which is published each year by The Economist, and assesses and ranks locations around the world based on whether they provide the best or the worst living conditions for residents – has officially been released today, and it’s revealed that Manchester has taken the 28th spot on the list.
A total of 173 cities across the world have been ranked, and every city is assigned a rating for ‘relative comfort’ for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories – stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
Each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable, or intolerable.
ADVERTISEMENT
For the qualitative indicators, a rating is awarded based on the judgment of the The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU)’s team of expert analysts and in-city contributors, and for quantitative indicators, a rating is calculated based on the relative performance of a number of external data points, and then, the scores are compiled and weighted to provide a score.
The Global Liveability Index for 2022 has been published, and Manchester has ranked at 28 / Credit: Unsplash (Josh Taylor | Fraser Cottrell)173 cities were ranked on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure / Credit: Thomas Foster (via Unsplash)
When it comes to the range of scoring, cities are given a score between one and 100, where one is considered intolerable, and 100 is considered ideal.
ADVERTISEMENT
This year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and how well a city has recovered, has been incorporated into the overall liveability score – with the introduction of new indicators to assess stress and restriction levels for each city.
The liveability rating is provided both as an overall score and as a score for each category.
Manchester’s ranking at number 28 sounds even more impressive when you realise we have beaten out some real European heavy-hitters such as Spain’s cities of Barcelona (35) and Madrid (43), and Italy’s northern gem Milan (49), as well as other global tourist hotspots like the US city of New York at 51, and China’s capital Beijing at 71.
The index rates living conditions in 172 cities based on more than 30 factors, including indicators related to covid. These are grouped into five categories:
🕊 Stability 🏥 Health care 🌳 Culture and environment 📚 Education 🏗 Infrastructure
We’ve even beaten out our country’s own capital city too, with London coming in at number 33 on the 2022 rankings.
But which city has clinched the title as the most liveable city in the world for 2022? And what other cities have featured in the coveted top 10? Well, this year, the Austrian capital of Vienna has reclaimed the crown it wore back in 2018 and 2019 after knocking New Zealand’s Aukland off the top spot.
The Danish capital of Copenhagen has moved up 13 places from last year to take the second spot, and Zurich in Switzerland now shares third place with Calgary in Canada – which has risen from 18th position.
ADVERTISEMENT
Fellow Swiss city Geneva came sixth, Germany’s Frankfurt seventh, the Netherlands’ capital of Amsterdam at ninth, and the Australian city of Melbourne took 10th place.
Lady Gaga announces MASSIVE gig at Co-op Live this year
Thomas Melia
American pop icon Lady Gaga is returning to the UK and is making a special stop in Manchester to celebrate her latest album, MAYHEM.
‘Mother Monster’ is returning to our lovely city for one night only ahead of her ‘The MAYHEM Ball Tour’, which is reaching the UK in October.
Gaga last visited Manchester over a decade ago when she brought ‘artRAVE: The Artpop Ball’ to AO Arena back in 2014.
The past few months have been mega for the 14-time Grammy-winning artist who has seen her Bruno Mars link-up ‘Die With A Smile’ catapult her career to new audiences and even further heights.
This single alone holds the record for the longest-running daily #1 hit on Spotify’s global chart, dethroning ‘Dance Monkey’ by Tones and I, which spent 121 days atop the chart.
Whether you’re showing up and showing out for classics such as ‘Poker Face’ and ‘Bad Romance’, or rocking up to hear new favourites like ‘Rain On Me’ and ‘Garden Of Eden’, this night will be a spectacle, that’s for sure.
This unmatched performer has chosen none other than Co-op Live as the destination for her newest tour, and we’re sure the arena will be packed with 23,500 of Gaga’s devoted ‘Little Monsters’.
Lady Gaga’s newest album, MAYHEM, is an ode to her discography and legacy as an artist with tracks like drawing from almost 20 year career: ‘Disease’, ‘Perfect Celebrity’, ‘Don’t Call Tonight’ and more.
Her latest single, ‘Abracadabra’, is already becoming a modern-day pop phenomenon too, as she evokes her familiar but ever-enigmatic pop star persona – we just wish we could magic ourselves some of those precious tickets.
The US performer took to social media to express her excitement, stating: “This show is designed to be the kind of theatrical and electrifying experience that brings MAYHEM to life exactly how I envision it.”
Gaga’s UK tour run is limited with a three-show residency at The O2 in London confirmed and this one-off Manchester gig announced so far.
With Gaga’s last visit being over 10 years ago, anyone looking to get their hands on any tickets will have to act fast.
She sure knows how to raise a roof, and when you have a single titled ‘Applause’ all about her adoration of playing to live crowds, we have no doubt this will be a night the die-hard fans will never forget.
Lady Gaga is bringing her ‘MAYHEM Ball Tour’ to Co-op Live on 7 October, with pre-sale tickets available from Monday 31 March onwards with general admission tickets going up from Thursday, 3 April at 12pm.
Former Manchester City player Joey Barton found guilty of assaulting his wife
Danny Jones
Ex-footballer Joey Barton has officially been found guilty of assaulting his wife following his two-day trial in the capital this week.
Barton, who played for Manchester City, Newcastle United, Queens Park Rangers and a number of other clubs, was convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 25 March, following an incident back in June 2021.
The former midfielder left his wife, 37-year-old Georgia Barton (McNeil), with a bleeding nose and a bruise on her forehead following a drunken row at their home in London.
Barton is said to have grabbed and pushed her to the floor before kicking her in the head. Married in 2019, the two have four children and are thought to still be together.
The 42-year-old was still employed in professional football as the manager of Bristol Rovers at the time, but he was ultimately sacked in October 2023.
His wife called 999 at the time, telling police that he had hit her, but later retracted her statement.
Born in Huyton, Merseyside, the chief magistrate Paul Goldspring recognised that the one-time England has a history of violence.
He was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence, meaning he won’t serve time unless he commits another offence and has been ordered to pay £2,138.
Since dropping out of mainstream football, in particular, Barton has come under heavy criticism for allegations of racism, sexism and controversial right-wing politics; he even started an ‘anti-woke’ podcast called Common Sense with Joey Barton.
Back in June of last year, he was ordered to pay £35,000 in damages to settle a libel claim with presenter Jeremy Vine after a series of inflammatory comments made online.
The Radio 2 presenter sued Mr Barton earlier this year, after the former footballer wrote a series of posts suggesting Mr Vine had a sexual interest in children.
He also accused of threatening fellow former pro, Eni Aluko, after a torrent of abuse regarding her punditry online – the ex-England international even went so far as to say she no longer felt safe staying in the country.
Emily Sergeant -
23rd June 2022 
