Days after being condemned by the largest Pacific Island capital — Port Moresby, the Economist’s Global Liveability Index has been criticised in Auckland by one of New Zealand’s most respected “green” columnists.

The criticisms come from different ends of the spectrum — Port Moresby was third to last in the 140-nation survey while Auckland, with the world’s largest urban Polynesian population, was top.

Both results were thanks to city responses to the global covid-19 pandemic.

• READ MORE: Auckland is the world’s ‘most liveable city’? Many Māori might disagree
• Parkop challenges ‘least liveable cities’ ranking for Port Moresby
• Auckland has become the world’s most liveable city – The Economist

National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop had roasted the Economist index, criticising the “irresponsible” criteria used in in the index assessment and called for a rethink about his sprawling city of Port Moresby (pop. 391,000).

“This is a harsh verdict on our city, which we have worked so hard to build,” Parkop said.

Leading Māori academic Associate Professor Ella Henry of Auckland University of Technology also criticised the criteria saying few indigenous tangata whenua people would agree with Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau (pop. 1.6 million, with 11.5 percent Māori) being the world’s “most liveable” city.

“In particular, I would argue that many Māori whānau in Auckland do not enjoy the benefits of this supposed ‘liveability’,” she said, citing negative employment, health, housing, poverty and digital divide statistics.

Global ‘low bar’
However, while New Zealand Herald commentator Simon Wilson, celebrated for his environmentally progressive views on Auckland, today welcomed his city’s success, he also  criticised the global “low bar” that had contributed to the Economist result.

“It sure puts covid into perspective, doesn’t it? Auckland … is now the world’s most liveable city. And it’s all because of our response to the pandemic,” he wrote.

“Britain has just delayed lifting all restrictions by another month. The fast rollout of vaccines in the US has stalled at around 50 percent, because nobody really knows how to persuade the remaining half of the population to get the jab.

“European and Asian countries alike slide in and out of covid crises. The nightmare that is India seems almost beyond redemption. This is a terrible tragedy.

“Here in Tāmaki Makaurau, meanwhile, we enjoy the luxury of debating the future of yachting contests, school zones and cycling on the harbour bridge.

“Yes, for now and at least into the near future, Auckland has every reason to think of itself as the world’s most liveable city. But the bar is very low.”

Wilson also wrote that it was not very encouraging that the Japanese city of Osaka had been placed second on the index.

What to crow about?
“The Japanese city has uncontrolled covid and is set to be half submerged by even a minimal rise in sea levels,” he observed.

“Here [in Auckland], though, setting covid aside, what else have we got to crow, or complain, about?” Wilson continued.

“We’re tremendously liveable, obviously, if you own property – and cruelly not so if you don’t. We’re tremendously liveable if your life doesn’t oblige you to get stuck in traffic, but not so much, etc.

“Some of us have reasonably well-paid future-focused jobs while others of us are precariously clinging to the gig economy, or are on minimum wage, or are not in the productive economy at all.

“The fact is, measuring liveability is a spurious business. The only markers that count should be the ones that acknowledge we’re doing well when we’re all doing well.”

National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop has challenged Port Moresby’s almost bottom ranking in the 2021 edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (The EIU) Global Liveability report, calling it “harsh” and “irresponsible’.

The report ranks Port Moresby 138th out of 140 cities across the world — the lowest in the Asia Pacific region and in the same league as Damascus, Karachi and Dhaka.

He said Port Moresby has been ranked as “one of the least liveable cities in the world”, along with war-torn cities, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

• READ MORE: Auckland is the world’s ‘most liveable city’? Many Māori might disagree
• Auckland has become the world’s most liveable city – The Economist

“This is a harsh verdict on our city, which we have worked so hard to build,” Parkop said.

“We are constantly striving to transform Port Moresby into a world-class city with modern infrastructure, conducive business environment, cultural development through music, arts and creative industry.

To be ranked alongside Damascus is ridiculous and irresponsible, and we want to know how the agency came to this conclusion.”

According to the EIU website, the liveability survey was set in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.

Global lockdowns
The crisis caused “liveability” to decline as cities experienced lockdowns and significant strains on their healthcare systems.

However, Port Moresby was one of the few cities around the world which remained largely insulated from the virus.

While cases surged in March 2021, it was swiftly brought under control due to border shut-down, travel restrictions, and strict covid-19 protocols.

Parkop said that Papua New Guinea’s comparatively low covid-19 statistics were evidence to an effective response, including a vaccine rollout launched in the NCD in May.

“We have actively advocated for residents to take the vaccination,” he said.

“The faster, we get vaccinated, the faster the road to recovery.

“During the pandemic, while the gaps in our health care system were exposed, it also gave us an opportunity to identify and rectify these gaps.

New hospital in Gerehu
“We are currently in the process of building a new level-5 NCD provincial hospital in Gerehu which will be the new general hospital for the city as the current hospital has been pre-designated as a National Referral and Teaching Hospital.

“The new hospital project, which has already received approval from the Physical Planning and Building Board, will have 500 beds and will also serve the near-by provinces of Central and Gulf.

“We are also building a new hospital at Kaugere, Moresby South.”

Last year, the National Capital District Commission had unveiled its vision 2030.

This is a comprehensive plan that will guide all future urban development, including infrastructure, affordable housing, roads, transport, utilities and open spaces.

“The National Capital District Commission, our municipal government and I have a clear agenda – we want our city to be a safe, smart and liveable,” Parkop said.

“Though there are many challenges of urbanisation and population explosion, we are committed on delivering on projects like settlement to suburb upgrade, upgrading of roads, building market spaces for informal vendors and creating recreational spaces using the Ela Beach model.

‘We have a plan’
“We have a plan, and we are on track to achieving our vision.”

Slamming the EIU Liveability Report shared recently, Parkop said: “A report like this is totally irresponsible, counterproductive and paints a bad picture of our city internationally.

“It will impact our economic, tourism and cultural reputation.

‘‘So, we are taking it seriously and lodging our protest with the Europe-based agency which conducted the survey.

‘‘We want them to review the ranking.”