Melbourne has again been recognised as the world’s most liveable city, pipping Vancouver for the second year in a row. Adelaide shot up the ranks this year, to sit two places above Sydney and four above Perth in the Global Liveability Survey.
Melbourne scored 97.5 percent, just 2.5 percent less than a perfect score, as it was the city only to lose points for climate, culture and petty crime in the survey of 140 global cities.
The Austrian city of Vienna came in second on the index, scoring just 0.1 percentage points lower than Melbourne, while Vancouver came in third.
Sydney’s score remained unchanged since last year’s assessment and is just 1.4 per cent lower than that of Melbourne. Despite this, Adelaide’s score bumped it up three places this year, making it the joint 5th most liveable city in the world, thanks to it’s good infrastructure. Sydney is now ranked 7th.
“In Adelaide, projects completed in recent years under the Strategic Infrastructure Plan for South Australia have been enough to move the city above Sydney, whose score is unchanged,” Economist Intelligence Unit survey editor Jon Copestake said.
Perth came in at number 9 – down slightly from equal 8th position last year.
“Melbourne may claim national bragging rights (in topping the rankings), but four of the five Australian cities surveyed are in the top 10 of the global index, and are separated by just 1.6 percentage points,” Copestake said.
Elsewhere in the world the impact of the Arab Spring, and the fallout from the Euro zone crisis, are being felt. The ongoing civil war in Syria saw the capital, Damascus, fall furthest as violence intensified, dropping 13 places to 130th.
London, host of the 2012 Olympic Games, saw a decline in its score as a result of riots that took place in the UK last year, falling two places to 55th.
Dhaka in Bangladesh was named the least liveable location surveyed.
The global liveability report, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, surveys 140 locations around the world to assess the best or the worst living conditions. Cities are scored on political and social stability, crime rates and access to quality health care. It also measures the diversity and standard of cultural events and the natural environment; education (school and university); and the standard of infrastructure, including public transport.
