Melbourne judged world's most livable city

30 Aug 2011, 1:17 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Melbourne has claimed the title of the world's most liveable city in the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest survey, with Sydney, Perth and Adelaide also making it into the top 10.

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Melbourne has claimed the title of the world's most liveable city in the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest survey, with Sydney, Perth and Adelaide also making it into the top 10.

It's the first time in almost a decade of the global livability survey that Vancouver hasn't ranked as the best place to live in the world.

Melbourne had shared first position with Vancouver in 2002 but finally nabbed the top spot in its own right in the August survey, released on Tuesday.

Economist Intelligence Unit survey editor Jon Copestake said Melbourne managed to move up one spot to claim the top ranking thanks to a slight fall in Vancouver's infrastructure score, which is one of the measures of livability.

The Canadian city slipped to third spot, behind Vienna in Austria.

Sydney made it to sixth position in the London-based research company's latest ranking of 140 cities, from seventh in the February survey, while Perth and Adelaide again shared eighth place.

"Australia, with a low population density and relatively low crime rates, continues to supply some of the world's most livable cities," Mr Copeland said in a statement.

"Despite the rising cost of living driven by the strong Australian dollar, these cities offer a range of factors to make them highly attractive."

Melbourne scored 97.5 per cent, just beating Vienna on 97.4 per cent and Vancouver on 97.3.

A ranking of 100 per cent is considered ideal. Brisbane came in at number 21 on the survey, two spots ahead of Wellington but behind Auckland which was number 10.

The debt crisis in euro zone countries led to a slight fall in European cities' livability rankings.

The Greek capital Athens dropped five places due to its austerity measures and civil unrest, with its 67th place putting it below cities in emerging economies such as Montevideo in Uruguay.

Expats working in Athens could now qualify for a hardship allowance, the survey said.

The survey said the 'Arab Spring' uprisings and the Libyan civil war pushed down scores across the Middle East and North Africa with the Libyan capital Tripoli falling into the bottom 10 for the first time.

Bottom place went to Harare in Zimbabwe, which scored 38.2 per cent.

The survey ranks 140 locations as having the best or the worst living conditions, with cities scored on political and social stability, crime rates, access to quality health care, cultural events, the environment, education and the standard of infrastructure.

Country     City      Rank      Overall Rating (100=ideal)

Australia     Melbourne      1     97.5

Canada      Vancouver      3      97.3

Canada      Toronto      4      97.2

Canada      Calgary      5      96.6

Australia      Sydney      6      96.1

Finland      Helsinki      7      96.0

Australia      Perth      8      95.9

Australia      Adelaide      8      95.9

New Zealand      Auckland      10      95.7

Melbourne

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Your Comments

Sydney?

Brian Damage - from Gosford, 2 years ago

Do they mean our Sydney ? i think there was some cash under the table lol

Traveling broadens the mind...

Bevilacqua - from Melbourne, 2 years ago

Of course Melbourne won! It's stunning! Yes there are bad elements to every city but we really do have alot less issues than most other major cities around the world. Yay for us!

News or Job application?

Jack - from Melbourne, 2 years ago

I feel like the first 30 seconds of this video is the guy reading us his resume..

Bad joke

Disillusioned - from Sydney, 2 years ago

Clearly The Economist hasn't heard of Sydney's drive by shootings each night, traffic jams and ALP neglect of basic infrastructure.

Who judges this

Rohan - from Brisbane, 2 years ago

I'm thinking eskimo's or people that love the feel of thermal underwear

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