Melbourne has edged out Austria’s capital Vienna to claim the Global Liveability Survey title of the best city in the world to live in for the second year running.
The global liveability survey is an annual list compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Survey editor Jon Copestake says that while Melbourne enjoys top bragging rights, there is little separating the top Australian cities.
“Australian cities continue to thrive in terms of liveability. Not only do they benefit from the natural advantages of low population density, but they have continued to improve with some high profile infrastructure investments,” Copestake said in a statement.
Melbourne’s score of 97.5 per cent is close to the perfect score, with the city only losing points for climate, culture and petty crime.
Copestake said the impact of the Arab Spring and the Euro zone crisis were significant factors in the 2012 global rankings.The survey measures cities across five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. It surveyed 140 cities worldwide.
The world’s top 10 most liveable cities:
1. Melbourne, Australia.
2. Vienna, Austria.
3. Vancouver, Canada.
4. Toronto, Canada.
5. Calgary, Canada.
5. (Equal) Adelaide, Australia.
7. Sydney, Australia.
8. Helsinki, Finland.
9. Perth, Australia.
10. Auckland, New Zealand.