Looking to stay or invest in Australia? It may not be a bad idea to do so, with a recent report ranking four Australian cities as some of the most liveable in the world.
How "livable" is your city? Moreover, what exactly makes one city more livable than another? The Economist Intelligence Unit's annual Liveability Report ranked Melbourne as the world's most liveability city in 2013, with an overall score of 97.5 out of 100, while Adelaide, Sydney and Perth also made the list at numbers five, seven and nine, respectively. Notably, Melbourne was named the world's most liveable city for the third year running, nudging out the Austrian capital city, Vienna.
Here are the top 10:
- Melbourne, Australia
- Vienna, Austria
- Vancouver, Canada
- Toronto, Canada
- Calgary, Canada
- Adelaide, Australia
- Sydney, Australia
- Helsinki, Finland
- Perth, Australia
- Auckland, New Zealand
Between Australia and Canada were 7 out of the 10 most liveable cities. Australia having 4 and Canada having 3. A testiment to the countries as a whole.
The survey tracked 140 countries, and the results were generated by examining and rating six major criteria:
- stability
- healthcare
- culture
- environment
- education
- infrastructure.
The Indicators for these factors were listed as:
- acceptable
- tolerable
- uncomfortable
- undesirable
- intolerable
They were then weighed to produce a rating, whereby 100 represented ideal liveability and one represented intoreable liveability.
Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Perth all received perfect scores of 100 in the education and healthcare categories, and scores of 95.9 or above in the overall liveability category.
According to the report, the top-screening cities tend to "be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density," which fostered "a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure."
Commenting specifically on Australia, the report cited infrastructural improvements as being a key factor behind the nation's liveability standards.
Whilst the standards in the top cities are ever increasing, worldwide, researchers said livability had slipped by 0.6 percent over the past five years, led by a 1.3 percent dip in stability and safety. Unrest in Syria, for instance, put Damascus dead last on the 2013 list. A variety of Arab Spring and austerity protests have dragged other nations down as well in the Middle East and Europe, while social unrest like the anti-Japanese rioting last year has minimized increases in livability in China, despite higher living standards. Of the 86 nations which results have changed over the past five years, just 30 have seen improvements.