Top 20 liveable cities / Munich
After much tyre-kicking, data-sifting and deliberation, Munich emerged as Monocle’s most liveable city in the world. A winning combination of investment in infrastructure, high-quality housing, low crime, liberal politics, strong media and general feeling of Gemütlichkeit make it a city that should inspire others.
Leaning back in a wicker chair sipping caffe latte overlooking Leopoldstrasse as cars zip past under the watchful eyes of the lion-drawn quadriga atop the Victory Gate, you begin to understand Munich’s contradictions. There is hardly a more German city or one more proud of its clichés – from Lederhosen-clad locals downing litre-mugs of beer in leafy parks to the clinical appearance of white-frocked scientists at the Max Planck research institute. But beneath the city’s boundless ambition, Munich is surprisingly laid-back.
“There’s a certain Italian…
