Melbourne voted world’s most liveable city…again

Emma Manser
Aug 18, 2015, updated Aug 18, 2015

Melbourne’s reputation has been further enhanced after it topped a Global Liveability Survey as the world’s most liveable city for the fifth year in a row.

The survey, released yearly by the Economist Intelligence Unit, scored cities out of 100 in the areas of healthcare, education, stability, culture and environment, and infrastructure.

• Brisbane on track as a smart city
• Find out what the median house price is in your city
• Australia’s fastest growing capital city is…

Melbourne again achieved a score of 97.5, with Adelaide ranked equal-fifth (96.6), while fellow Australian capitals Sydney and Perth also scraped into the top 10, seventh and eighth respectively.

“Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density,” the EIU report said.

“These can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure.”

A decreasing homicide rate was a contributing factor to the Victorian capital’s success.

Canadians have also hit the liveability jackpot, with Alberta’s capital of Calgary coming in joint-fifth with Adelaide, while Vancouver in the west of the country and the eastern city of Toronto were named as third and fourth respectively.

Although the top of the list celebrates prosperity, it also highlights those failing to meet their resident’s standards for liveability.

At the far end of the spectrum was the Syrian capital of Damascus at 29.3 per cent, with its inhabitants currently living through the midst of a brutal civil war – services and stability are virtually non-existant in the “urban wasteland”.

Bangladeshi capital Dhaka scored just 38.7. It is a city with a population of 15 million, about two-thirds of Australia’s population, where one-third of that population live in informal urban settlements – or slums.

Violent conflict is the prime reason cities rate lower, according to the report, as it has a knock-on effect to other measured categories.

“Conflict will not just cause disruption in its own right, it will also damage infrastructure, overburden hospitals and undermine the availability of goods, services and recreational activities,” the report stated.

Survey editor Jon Copestake told the Herald Sun that one-fifth of cities surveyed experienced declines in liveability over the past year.

“Melbourne remains top for the fifth year running, but elsewhere in the ranking the situation is more depressing,” Mr Copestake said.

“As well as conflicts in Ukraine, Libya and Syria, the last 12 months have seen protests in the US, sanctions in Russia and shootings in France and Tunisia.

“The hostage siege in Sydney late last year has put Australia on a high terror alert which could affect future scores.”