Livable Cities

Professions involved in urban affairs have long concerned themselves with the ingredients of good cities from their specific perspectives, for example, economics, safety, public health, and transit. Over the past 40 years, public attention has been increasing on the overall quality of cities, popularized by the recent emergence of several global indexes focusing on the livable qualities of cities. This chapter discusses the roots of the livable cities concept and related urban development movements, reviews major global ranking systems on livable cities, and reflects on their relation to the concept of urban livability. The final section discusses the relation of the concept of livable cities to the related concepts of sustainability and resilience, addressing issues of future generations, human rights, ecological sustainability, and resilience to disasters.