Posted on 09/23/2007 5:58:50 AM PDT by WesternCulture
Stockholm is the world's greenest, most livable city, according to a survey carried out by the Reader's Digest magazine.
Using a range of sources, environmental economist Matthew Kahn, from UCLA's Institute of the Environment, ranked 72 major international in terms of how 'green and livable' they are.
Environmental legislation, energy prices, waste production and disposal and available parkland were among the factors considered.
Stockholm was ranked number one, followed by Oslo in second place.
"You shouldn't boast, but Stockholm is the world's most beautiful city," said mayor Kristina Axén Olin .
"I get happy every time I come back to Stockholm after being away. We probably don't realise what a unique environment we have," she told Aftonbladet.
A third Scandinavian city, Copenhagen, was ranked tenth, but the top ten was dominated by German and French cities.
Munich was third, with Frankfurt (5th), Stuttgart (6th) and Dusseldorf (8th) completing a German quadruple. Paris was rated the fourth most livable city in the world, with Lyon and Nantes in 7th and 9th places respectively.
The first American city to make an appearance was New York, in 15th spot, while London only managed 27th place.
Reader's Digest also ranked countries and, as is usually the case with these kinds of surveys, the Nordic nations grabbed the top spots. Finland was top, given high marks "for air and water quality, a low incidence of infant disease, and how well it protects citizens from water pollution and natural disasters".
Iceland came second, with Norway and Sweden in third and fourth places.
Correction:
The region is named ‘Småland’.
I’ve heard statements like this from others, and in my experience it simply isn’t true. I find Parisians to be generally polite, not pushy, reserved, and if you’re in need of help, very accommodating. My French is sucky to nonexistent, but with a smile you can accomplish a lot. I find Paris to be much less threatening than many American cities, and beautiful as well.
Don’t you have maths where you live?
Those statistics support my claim that Scandinavian suicide rates are ‘average’ sooner than ‘high’.
The Swedes in Minnesota were the most prejudiced people I ever Met.
The Dumb Swedes were always calling Finns the “Dumb Finns”!
But the Dumb Norwegians did the same.
I have never owned a European vehicle, and while I'm sure they are fine machines, I feel no need to rush out and buy one simply because it's European. When Saab or Volvo start making pickup trucks, I will give them proper consideration, I'm sure.
Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!
Are they going to build a wall around Malmoe to keep the muslims in and the Swedes from losing their heads?
Sarc.
The only place in Sweden where it is not very good to live? Ask the Police who don’t venture out in certain neighborhoods there.
I have it on good authority that the most beautiful city in the world is Prague...
I said that the French do not like to hear French spoken with an English accent. Since you can't do that, naturally you would have no problem.
This may be, but Stockholm is no where near the California Coastline, so it is a stupid point to begin with.
“Provincial towns don’t count.
I have it on good authority that the most beautiful city in the world is Prague...”
- Prague is widely regarded as a very beautiful capital, but most would agree Rome and Paris can compete.
Stockholm is beautiful with all the water, the old steam boats etc, but the only real landmark it has is the City Hall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_City_Hall
Vienna is another very beautiful capital.
Places like Berlin and London are great but not especially beautiful IMO.
“The only place in Sweden where it is not very good to live”
- Rosengård, Malmö is perhaps the only true ‘ghetto’ in Scandinavia, but Bergsjön in Gothenburg and Rinkeby as well as some other parts of Stockholm come close.
By the way, a place that once was ghetto-like in Sweden is Angered here in Gothenburg, but this area has improved a lot during the last ten years. Today, there are many nice houses there and people drive decent cars.
Concerning Rosengård;
http://youtube.com/watch?v=byQD8VPhvdM
However, all of Malmö isn’t like this. Malmö is paradise compared to L.A.
Yes, we have "maths." The list I provided has 100 countries listed. Finland [#12], Denmark [#28], Sweden [#30], Iceland [#35], and Norway [#44]. Numerically, all of these countries are in the top half of the listed 100 countries, i.e., the top 50. That does not make the rate average, but rather high, especially Finland, Denmark and Sweden in the top third of all countries.
there’s only
4 hours of sunlight
on december 21st.
Paris is beautiful in the historic cultural core, but a lot of the sprawl there, and especially the northern suburbs, can be as ugly as almost any urban sprawl. Still, the city’s well-deserved reputation comes from the famous areas along the Seine, etc.
“there’s only 4 hours of sunlight on december 21st.”
- True. But during the Midsummer period, the sun actually never sets.
I have seen many beautiful parts of this world (and the US is one of them for sure!), but home is where my heart is:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2NmpbK2xmCY
“Talking about IKEA, I been to one in CA. Like the place and the stuff they sell. Too bad they are private - would like to buy stock in the company.”
- No person or couple would decorate their home solely with IKEA furniture (except in Russia perhaps), but I’d say IKEA has something to offer to everyone.
I agree it’s a shame you can’t buy IKEA stock, but try this Swedish company instead;
http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/100/100801.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%26M
I’ve more or less decided to buy stock in H&M myself (even though I know very little about fashion).
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