Melbourne has been rated as the world’s most liveable city for the seventh year running.
The Australian city once again came out on top of the latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Liveability Index. No other city has ever before held the number one position for so long.
The index ranks 140 cities each year on healthcare, education, infrastructure, stability, culture and environment.
Melbourne recorded perfect scores in the healthcare, education and infrastructure categories, receiving an overall score of 97.5 out of 100.
“This world record is an amazing feat that all Melburnians should be extremely proud of today,” said Robert Doyle, the lord mayor of Melbourne. “This accolade is an important selling point for Melbourne internationally: for businesses to invest or move here, for the best and brightest people to make Melbourne their home and for tourists to visit us. There will always be naysayers and whingers, and of course we are not perfect. No great world city is, but we should be very proud of the work we all do together to make Melbourne the best city in the world,” he added.
Austria’s capital, Vienna, took second spot in the rankings, with the Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto in third and fourth place respectively. Calgary, Canada’s and Australia’s Adelaide were in joint fifth position.
Iceland’s Reykjavik was once of the survey’s biggest movers, rising 13 places from 50 to 37. Manchester, UK, and Stockholm, Sweden, were among the biggest fallers – both cities have experienced high profile terrorist attacks in the past 12 months.
Overall, however, the survey revealed that 12 cities in the index have seen an improvement in livability, while just six have experienced a decline.
Unsurprisingly the bottom of the list is made up of cities devastated by war, poverty and political unrest.
Syria’s capital, Damascus, is at the very bottom, with an overall livability rating of just 30.2, while Nigeria’s Lagos and Libya’s Tripoli are just slightly ahead, with scores of 36 and 36.6 respectively.
World’s most liveable cities – top 10
- Melbourne, Australia
- Vienna, Austria
- Vancouver, Canada
- Toronto, Canada
=5. Calgary, Canada + Adelaide, Australia
- Perth, Australia
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Helsinki, Finland
- Hamburg, Germany
Article published 16th August 2017