Melbourne outshone all others in the report

A study of 140 cities from across the globe has found Melbourne to be the most liveable city in the world, displacing Vancouver at the top of the list.

According to the report, Vancouver lost the number one position on account of “recent intermittent closures” to the Malahat highway, which sent it down to third place behind Vienna, Austria. 

Originally designed to measure the hardships that came with the relocation of expatriates, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability survey works on the simple premise of assessing the best and worst living conditions from locations around the world, taking into account such criteria as stability, healthcare, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.          

Australian and Canadian cities dominated the top of the rankings accounting for seven of the top ten cities on the list, whilst a “slight depreciation” in liveability, driven by the current crisis in the Euro zone, saw a poor showing by European cities, particularly in Athens, Greece.        

Unsurprisingly, the impact of the Arab Spring and civil war in Libya pushed down scores across the Middle East and North Africa, most notably in Tripoli, Libya. 

The top ten cities on the list are: Melbourne (Australia), Vienna (Austria), Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary (all Canada), Sydney (Australia), Helsinki (Finland), Perth, Adelaide (both Australia) and Auckland (New Zealand).