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Melbourne retains title as world’s most liveable city

Melbourne has done it again. If five years wasn’t enough, the Australian city has been ranked the world’s most liveable city for the sixth consecutive year in a row by the Economist Intelligence Unit Survey.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) surveyed 140 cities across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure and gives a rating out of a possible 100 points. This year three of Australia’s cities ranked in the top 10, however, Sydney was not one of them after falling out of the top 10 and dropping four places to eleventh place.

Adelaide however retained its fifth position alongside Calgary in Canada which also scored joint fifth position whilst Perth made it to number seven.

Melbourne scored a total of 97.5 out of a possible 100 points, the same score as 2015, however the city only just retained its title, after narrowly beating Austrian capital city Vienna by just 0.1 percentage point.

Melbourne scored 100 out of 100 for Healthcare, Education and Infrastructure, whilst Culture & Environment scored 95.1 and Stability scored 95.

Once again, both Canadian and Australian cities dominated the top five positions and interestingly, the top six cities (Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Adelaide and Calgary) retained the same positions from last year, whilst Perth gained one position moving up from number eight to seventh, Auckland moved from ninth to eighth whilst Helsinki also moved up from tenth to ninth.

Top 10 most liveable cities – 2016

1. Melbourne (Australia)
2. Vienna (Austria)
3. Vancouver (Canada)
4. Toronto (Canada)
5. Calgary (Canada)
5. Adelaide (Australia)
7. Perth (Australia)
8. Auckland (New Zealand)
9. Helsinki (Finland)
10. Hamburg (Germany)

Top 10 most liveable cities – 2015

1. Melbourne (Australia)
2. Vienna (Austria)
3. Vancouver (Canada)
4. Toronto (Canada)
5. Adelaide (Australia)
5. Calgary (Canada)
7. Sydney (Australia)
8. Perth (Australia)
9. Auckland (New Zealand)
10. Helsinki (Finland)
10. Zurich (Switzerland)

Over the past 12 months, the world has seen increasing instability which has caused volatility in the scores for many cities, such as Sydney, owning to a heightened perceived threat of terrorism. Hamburg however has experienced declines in stability which has led to its movement up to position ten.

Over the past six months, 16 cities of the 140 cities surveyed have experienced changes in scores, whilst over the year this rises to 35 cities or 25% of the total number surveyed. The majority of these changes have been negative (29 in the past 12 months) due to the heightened threats of terrorism or unrest.

Melbourne is well known for its arts and culture, sport and shopping and its food and coffee culture. The city is also seeing plenty of growth and renewal projects including the redevelopment of Melbourne Park, the Metro Tunnel and the renewal of the Queen Victoria Market.

The city is also looking at the introduction of 20-minute neighbourhoods that will allow residents easy access to local shops, schools, parks, jobs and a variety of community services all within 20 minutes of your front door.

At the bottom of the table was Damascus in Syria with an overall rating of 30.2. The top 10 least liveable cities in 2016 were:

1. Kiev (Ukraine)
2. Douala (Cameroon)
3. Harare (Zimbabwe)
4. Karachi (Pakistan)
5. Algiers (Algeria)
6. Port Moresby (PNG)
7. Dhaka (Bangladesh)
8. Lagos (Nigeria)
9. Tripoli (Libya)
10. Damascus (Syria)
Published on 19th of August 2016 by Marty Stanowich
Marty Stanowich
Marty Stanowich

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