Liveable Cities and Urban Transit: Liveability in a Global Context and its Connections to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)

Abstract

This MRP outlines the importance of transit in enhancing liveability. It does so by conducting a review of literature, identifying seven components of liveability (including transportation), and explaining how transit contributes to the individual components of liveability. Then, a jurisdictional scan of transit policies in Zurich, Vancouver, and Seoul was conducted to examine whether transit policies enhanced liveability in these cities. Finally, this MRP presented transit policy recommendations for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and explained how improved transit would increase the GTHA’s liveability. This MRP found that transit augments liveability in Zurich, Vancouver, and Seoul and that the contributions of transit to liveability are often overlooked by the literature and liveability indices. These findings show that transit should be viewed as an important variable that enhances liveability in cities.