FOR a 100-year-old city, Canberra is looking pretty fantastic.  We have lots of reasons to celebrate this year – a new survey shows Canberra second to Adelaide as Australia’s most liveable city.

Almost 6000 respondents to the Property Council of Australia’s Liveability Survey, across 11 cities, were asked what they thought was important in making a place good to live and to rate their city’s performance.

Unsurprisingly, most Canberrans agreed our city has great outdoor spaces, a wonderful natural environment, clean air and is well maintained. The survey results also show strong recognition of our high-quality schools and other educational facilities.

The poll supports what we all know to be true – Canberra is a beautiful and special place to live with good public facilities.  It’s still easy to get around, it is a comparatively safe place to live and is based on a community of a diverse range of people who get along well.

The survey also revealed areas for improvement. Nearly half of the respondents felt that the public transport system was inadequate and many believed that our Government was doing a poor job in supplying infrastructure to meet demand. Most believed there was not enough range in affordable housing – we need to pay attention now to this critical issue if we want to maintain our balance of community.

The good news is there was strong support for a diversity of housing types, including developments on new land, medium-density housing and residential reuse of industrial sites.

The challenge remains for the ACT Government to do more to ensure that our city is a home not just for the privileged few, but for anyone who wants to enjoy it, particularly our key workers and young people.

More on the poll at youtube.com/watch?v=flp34eBcPeQ

Catherine Carter is ACT executive director of the Property Council of Australia