Toronto has been named the best city for real estate investment because of its ability to "bounce back from an adverse event," according to a new report issued by the London-based Grosvenor.
Resilient cities are defined by their abilities to "thrive as centres of human habitation, production and cultural development, despite the challenges posed by climate change, population growth and globalization." Resilience, the report says, urgently needs to be rethought due to the pressures placed on cities by economic and population growth.
The report ranked the top 50 cities internationally according to their vulnerabilities (climate, environment, resources, infrastructure, and community), as well as their "adaptive capacity" (governance, institutions, technical and learning, planning systems, and funding structures).
Toronto came out on top, followed by two other Canadian cities: Vancouver and Calgary. "Canadian cities have a strong combination of low vulnerability and high adaptive capacity. There is a high level of resource availability, and Canadian cities are well governed and well planned," the report says.
Although Toronto received top rankings, it was not issued a case study as other cities, including Vancouver and New York City, were. "Toronto is no stranger to the importance of resiliency, having endured natural disasters such as the 1998 ice storm and even Hurricane Hazel, in 1954," Richard Barkham, Grosvenor’s Group research director, instead said in a press release.
"The investment of city leaders in infrastructure and its commitment to upgrading it over the decades has put Toronto at the top of Grosvenor’s list of the world’s most resilient cities. Canada, as a whole, is doing exceptionally well in developing resiliency."
Read the full report
here.
Original Source: Grosvenor