Dublin has been ranked the fourth richest city in the world.

John_Rambo

I know you're probably going to be a bit surprised, but it's important to note that the UN-Habitat suggests a fresh approach to prosperity beyond the solely economic emphasis, including other vital dimensions such as quality of life, adequate infrastructures, equity and environmental sustainability.


http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/dublin-ranked-fourth-in-un-prosperity-index-585714.html

Dublin has been ranked the fourth richest city in the world.

Despite our economic woes, Dublin tied with Copenhagen in the UN's Habitat Index.

Five markers - productivity, quality of life, infrastructure, environment and equity - were used to decide where cities ranked in terms of overall prosperity.

The authors of the report warned however, that our economic woes may affect the ranking.

"The positive ranking which was achieved by strength of the equity index presents a challenge for Dublin," they said.

"Current measures to address the economic crisis and the public finances could affect the equity index."

Vienna came first in the index, followed by Helsinki in Finland and Oslo in Norway.

bizmark

Not a shock dublins quite a fine city

admiralofthefleet

despite its slight failings (public transport) i love my city

John_Rambo

bizmark wrote: »

Not a shock dublins quite a fine city

Bang on.

If you're reasonably active and are willing to use the amenities available, both natural and cultural, Dublin is a cracking city.

I always find that people that bitch and moan about the city generally don't actually know it, don't really want to experience it and are a bit lazy when it comes to doing stuff for themselves. They will head off to Barcelona, Paris etc and harp on about the wonderful museums and how they were only €15 to get in!! I had a young fella tell me that Sidney was way better than Dublin, it had beaches and a mountain range only a few hours away!

theidiots

I hate Dublin.

bizmark

Never been to Sidney but have been to London, Adelaide (and a few other aussie towns/citys), Glasgow etc etc would perfere dublin over any of em as with anywhere it has its bad spots but no place is free of that plus it has the advantage of the irish country side a mere few hours in any direction.

Ireland in general is full of people who dont really understand what they got or just love complaining imho cork for instants is a fairly perfect sized city with most everything you could want day to day with dublin or london or kerry just a few hours away depending on what you wish to do with yourself for a few days

karl_m

I think too many people only focus on the negatives of the city, media to thank for that mostly, along with bad experiences that stick in their memory. The good that they do see is quickly replaced but something "horrible" that would only happen in "Dublin/Ireland".

I could type all the negatives and all the positives, but that wont change the minds of people. I just implore the people who do complain to think of something they like about being here.

admiralofthefleet

theidiots wrote: »

I hate Dublin.

why?

its an excellent city, we have the countryside, the mountains and the beach within easy access and the city centre itself is very easy to get around

EdenHazard

Good city, **** people...and weather

Andy-Pandy

EdenHazard wrote: »

Good city, **** people...and weather

You need new friends then. I love this city, and i've been to many of them around the world.

Ben D Bus

EdenHazard wrote: »

**** people

That's just the boggers. The Dubs and the foreigners are grand

But seriously, I'm struggling to think of anything I'd like to do that I can't do in Dublin. I really like living here and have yet to visit somewhere I'd rather live.

I still like to visit the big 'global' cities like London & Paris (never been to NYC!!) but outside the picture postcard locations, life in the ordinary 'burbs in these places is nothing special.

John_Rambo

theidiots wrote: »

I hate Dublin.

Well, the idiots hate Dublin. The UN might have taken this in to account adding to the cities success in the ranking.

triple-M

when doing their little survey they obviously forgot to visit the northside

John_Rambo

John_Rambo wrote: »

I always find that people that bitch and moan about the city generally don't actually know it

triple-M wrote: »

when doing their little survey they obviously forgot to visit the northside

See?

admiralofthefleet

triple-M wrote: »

when doing their little survey they obviously forgot to visit the northside

yeah if they had visited howth, malahide and portmarnock dublin would probably have come top of the list

EyeSight

richest i can believe. the expense of some things here...
however i do not think this counts as Dublin being one of the best cities in the world. i find the city center lacks variety compared to other cities around the world.
I think a lot of the people in the city bring it down the most. last tuesday i was walking through the city and in the 20 minutes i walked(about 11pm from jervis street to stephens green) i was approached by junkies who verbal abused me for not giving them money, i had 2 different drunk men yell at me, i witnessed junkies fighting, a man passed out with vomit on him and had countless "men" (really i mean college boys who had the back up of all their mates) shout abuse at me to impress their mates. This is not uncommon for me to see. And im a man in his late 20's who's fairly built. i can imagine how a girl or some tourist would feel walking through that.
Before you give me the "this happens in every city" excuse, it doesn't. i've spent time in lots of cities around the world, lived in some famously rough neighborhoods, and never had to put up with as much. I don't think we irish can handle our drink as much as we think. And i think nothing changes because people in ireland put up with it

John_Rambo

EyeSight wrote: »

i find the city center lacks variety compared to other cities around the world

Can you expand on this point?

That's truly an amazing amount of incidents and abuse you attracted, I did the same walk today. I got stopped once by a girl looking for directions.

carlmango11

John_Rambo wrote: »

Can you expand on this point?

That's truly an amazing amount of incidents and abuse you attracted, I did the same walk today. I got stopped once by a girl looking for directions.

Yeah I mean I've seen the things he's described happen before but that amount of stuff happening in 20 minutes sounds like someone's telling porkie pies.

irishguy

I love Dublin too, the biggest problem is the weather. If we got proper seasons dublin would be the best city in the world. I am not from Dublin and traveled a lot of the world. Vancouver is the only other city I can think of that's better

John_Rambo

carlmango11 wrote: »

Yeah I mean I've seen the things he's described happen before

Same here, except the countless college boys/men abusing me.

msg11

carlmango11 wrote: »

Telling porkie pies.

Doubt it , sounds fairly plausible. Town is a mix with all sorts. There are areas in Dublin to put it this way if you don't eat in the area don't step in the area.

Largely Dublin in general is not as bad as you would think, it has calmed down a lot over the years it's the newer towns I think that are taking off in terms of trouble, Blanch, Ballbrigan, Swords. We have little ****s wanting to get a name for themselves.

tfak85

I'm not surprised at all about Dublin being so high in the rankings.

When I was 18 I moved to London, where I remained for three and a half happy years - at the time I just wanted away from Dublin. It was only when I met my now husband and moved back to Dublin that I realised the quality of life here is so high. Now I love to visit London but could never imagine living in the UK again.

A walk through town at 8pm any night of the week and you'll see that the majority of restaurants are packed and many are booked out! There is so much to do in Dublin, loads to see, I don't think there is "little variation" at all; our buildings and winding streets are so beautiful! Though I do think that there could be some serious improvement on the roads (cycle lanes mostly) and the busses are a little expensive. In general I really love my lovely city!

'Tis grand altogether.

Elmer Blooker

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

despite its slight failings (public transport) i love my city

A Capital city with a public transport system thats an embarrassment in not a slight failing. The taxi drivers strike at Dublin Airport last year illustrates this.
Dublin is a city of two halves, there seems to be no problem finding funds to construct and even extend Luas lines on the southside yet anything on the northside is usually put on the long finger.

EyeSight

carlmango11 wrote: »

Yeah I mean I've seen the things he's described happen before but that amount of stuff happening in 20 minutes sounds like someone's telling porkie pies.

im not lying. why would i make this up? if i was going to make something up i would make something more exciting up.
that was more things than i experience than usual but almost every night i walk around the city i experience something like this. im a guy who likes to keep his head down, but i think thats what attracts the scum

even if you dont believe me, you mention you've seen these things happen. are you happy to just ignore them? are you happy that these incidents happened in a main tourist hotspot?

ProudDUB

Not surprised Dublin ranked so high. There are few other European or world capitals where you have beautiful beaches and lovely mountains just a quick 30 minute drive from the city center. And you can't put a price on the fact that living close to the city center is doable for a lot of average people with average jobs. Good luck doing that in London, Paris or New York unless you are an investment banker or a super model.

admiralofthefleet

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

A Capital city with a public transport system thats an embarrassment in not a slight failing. The taxi drivers strike at Dublin Airport last year illustrates this.
Dublin is a city of two halves, there seems to be no problem finding funds to construct and even extend Luas lines on the southside yet anything on the northside is usually put on the long finger.

i have always said the northside is neglected and suffers an anti bias when it comes to development. i sent labour td tommy broughan a letter in 1995 when i was 14 complaining about the lack of public transport on the northside and got a bullshít letter back.
just luck at the trams going into the mountains where nobody lives on the southside while people on the northside have to queue for full buses

John_Rambo

EyeSight wrote: »

i find the city center lacks variety compared to other cities around the world

Can you tell us what variety you feel the city lacks?

Elmer Blooker

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

i have always said the northside is neglected and suffers an anti bias when it comes to development. i sent labour td tommy broughan a letter in 1995 when i was 14 complaining about the lack of public transport on the northside and got a bullshít letter back.
just luck at the trams going into the mountains where nobody lives on the southside while people on the northside have to queue for full buses

Yeah, if Dublin Airport was located to the south of the city, which it isn't of course but if it was there would be an ultra efficient rail system into the city like in any normally functioning European capital city but because its on the northside visitors to the "fourth richest city" are at the mercy of Dublin's charming taxi drivers.

admiralofthefleet

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

Yeah, if Dublin Airport was located to the south of the city, which it isn't of course but if it was there would be an ultra efficient rail system into the city like in any normally functioning European capital city but because its on the northside visitors to the "fourth richest city" are at the mercy of Dublin's charming taxi drivers.

re develop baldonnel as a commercial airport and watch the rail lines appear out of nowhere

dardhal

I shouldn't be writing this comment, as pointlessly fighting each other at "mine (city) is better than yours" leads nowhere. However, to make an informed comment I have first gone for the original report PDF, and quickly read it start to finish. The news article linked by the OP, is useless. I always take anything coming from the UN with a BIG grain of salt, but having the full report is as good as it gets, so let's see.

First thing noticeable for me being from Spain, is the report is sanctioned by someone called Joan Clos, former major of Barcelona for 10 years, then a Minister for Zapatero's cabinet (former President of Spain). One of those many clear examples of absolute morons living on the taxpayers' money, and being kicked up the bureaucracy ladder for no good reason (/me sighs).

More specifically, this Report advocates a shift in attention around the world in favour of a more robust notion of development – one that looks beyond the narrow domain of economic growth that has dominated
ill-balanced policy agendas over the last decades.

The gist of this Report is the need for transformative change towards people-centred, sustainable urban development...

So that is not precisely what I would give Dublin high marks for...having lived for six months there (Parnell St. to O'Connell Street), the way the city has expanded and the state the city is at the moment and the "people centred (sic)" approach of the city seem all wrong to me. Period. Is the hideous urban sprawl Dublin has experienced in the last few years / decades sustainable? Is the derelict city center "people-centred"? Is the astonishing lack of a better and more affordable public transportation system according to the fourth more "sustainable / worthy / best" city in the world? C'mon you UN guys. On the wider picture, how does the Irish health system fare in the so called "Human Development Index"?

You got a job (and 40% of all the taxes you pay, VAT, VRT, etc. included, go to the HSE), and earn too much to get a GP or medical card? Worry not, you can shell 50-60€ a visit to the GP to get a prescription for off the counter antibiotics (which you will be charged at twice the same product in richer countries). Super human centric, über fair, and the UN is very happy with that, or so it seems.

I tried to read through the report, but the way it is worded and structured makes for a very dense and little rewarding experience, so I went the lazy path and searched for all matches of Dublin in text: there are two (tables in pages 123 and 138, but the second is useless). Ignoring the fact that, for some reason I can't think of, Madrid has not been considered in the report (neither has Rome, in favor of Milan, but arguably Milan seems to be wealthier than Rome, even if Rome has as much as twice the population), the ranks for Dublin are as follows:
+ Productivity Index: 0.901
+ Quality of life index: 0.867
+ Infrastructure Index: 0.996
+ Environment Index: 0.958
+ Equity Index: 0.850

And according to the report:

Productivity:
The productivity index is measured through the city product, which is composed of variables such capital investment, formal/informal employment, inflation, trade, savings, export/import and household income/consumption. The city product represents the total output of goods and services (value added) produced by a city’s population during a specific year.

Quality of life: this index is a combination of three sub-indices: education, health sub-index and public space.

Infrastructure development: this index combines two sub-indices: one for infrastructure proper, and another for housing.

Environmental sustainability: this index is made of three sub-indexes: air quality (PM10), CO2 emissions and indoor pollution.

Equity and social inclusion: this index combines statistical measures of inequality of income/consumption, (Gini coefficient) and inequality of access to services and infrastructure.

The productivity index is gross domestic product (for the city) divided by population. That's a no-brainer, and the only real objective metric in the report. Infrastructure index is 0.99 or higher for all measured cities but three (Sao Paulo, Seoul and Moscow), so it adds little value to the overall picture.

If "environmental sustainability" is all about air quality, well, lucky Irish people that live in a little island with lots of wind to clean the nasty things coming from the car's tailpipes and chimneys. In my vision of the world there are TONS of other things contributing to sustainability, but it seem the guys from the UN fail to grasp that.

And when it comes to equity, Dublin fares as second to only the capitals in scandinavia, Copenhagen and Vienna. I have a very _hard_ time believing this, sorry. Is Dublin the fifth fairer major city of all those surveyed in Europe regarding "equality of income" and access to services? Sorry, but not. Dublin has truckloads of people living on huge salaries in those fancy districts and commuter town / villages, while at the same time the average Joe struggle to make ends meet by living in a sub-standard accommodation, while some others can't simply turn the heating on during the six month long Irish winter, or use extremely polluting coal, which is something most places in Europe long banned due to environmental concerns. And as mentioned above, "equality of access to services" like health care is a bad joke (and don't get me started on the very pricey and little useful health insurance companies).

Don't get me wrong, Dublin is not a bad place to live once you know what you can expect from it, where to go and when, and where to not go and when, pretty like any other city, town, village, place in the world. I don't really think Dublin is the "fourth best place to live in the world", as the crappy news report implies. The UN report is not very detailed in how the different scores were achieved, or what each city's strong and weak points are.

But the worst think we may do as a result of this report is believing Dublin is so f-word cool and top of the class that it needs no improvement (or the country as a whole). The state of the city center is an embarrassing shame, the kind of people wandering around it, the condition most buildings are or it being frightening empty when business are closed but for two main commercial streets is not what, at least to my liking, makes for a city I would like to live in.

If you believe Dublin (or any other city for that matter) is fine when you just commute in and out Monday to Friday and go to the shopping centers in the suburbs during the weekends, and can't see or don't care about everyday living in that city, then you have a very different concept to a livable city than I have. Going from home to the office and back and living 30 Km. from the city center in your posh celtic tiger era development, is as close as living in Dublin as the mentioned UN report seems to be about getting it right.

John_Rambo

Hmmmm... That type of coal is banned in Dublin, it has been in years, Dublin's air is very clean. You say you know people that can't use any form of heating throughout the winter? I don't believe you.

In fact, reading your post, I'm not too sure if you lived in Dublin at all. Maybe you lived in it, but didn't experience it properly. Shame.