In today’s Courier-Mail, columnist Robert MacDonald laments that Brisbane isn’t one of Monocle Magazine’s top 25 most liveable cities in the world (Munich is no. 1, Melbourne is 9th, Sydney is 12th, and Auckland is 20th).  Mr MacDonald comments:

We probably didn’t  stand a chance anyway.  Lists by definition are in the eyes of the compilers and Monocle, which provides “a briefing on global affairs, business, culture and design”, exudes an inner-urban sensibility of the type that judges cities by their approach to architecture, sustainability and ease of bicycling rather than, say, how casually people dress, how slowly they dawdle or how exuberant and overgrown the local foliage.

I’m sure the Monocle editors would appreciate the cosmopolitan charms of Brisbane’s West End, however, which is why it’s a shame the State Government has blocked the Council’s push for 12 storey high rises in the area, restricting building heights to seven storeys:

State Government reduces building heights at West End

It would be good for the Queensland economy if we could have more people living in diverse, edgy areas like West End, as this would help foster a more creative and innovative society.  (On this topic, I recommend Richard Florida’s great paper on Bohemia and Economic Geography.)