World's "Most Liveable" Cities

[Fintan]

World's Most Liveable Cities

Vancouver has been named the world's 'most liveable' city for the fifth year running.

Melbourne came in second place in the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, with Vienna third, Toronto fourth and Calgary fifth.

Seven of the top ten cities come from Australia and Canada.

Perched on the west coast of Canada, Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. It scored 98 per cent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

It has topped the list every year since 2007.

'Vancouver remains at the top of the ranking, a position that can only have been cemented by the successful hosting of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which provided a boost to the infrastructure and culture and environment categories,' the report summary said.

'Only petty crime presents any difficulties for Vancouver, although this would be a shortfall of any such location,' it said.

London moved up one place to 53rd while Paris came in at number 16.
Pittsburgh was the top US city with 29th place -- just ahead of Honolulu -- while Los Angeles moved up three places to 44th and New York held onto 56th spot.

The top Asian city was the Japanese city of Osaka at number 12, tying with Geneva, and beating the Japanese capital of Tokyo, which was placed 18th.

Hong Kong came in at 31, while Beijing, capital of the world's most populous nation and the second biggest economy, made a poor showing at number 72.

At the other end of the list, African and Asian nations subsumed in political turmoil, poverty and war made up the bottom of the survey's rankings.

'Conflict is responsible for many of the poorest performing scores,' the report said, pointing to issues such as violence, crime, civil insurgency and war.
There was also little change at the bottom, with Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, once again claiming the worst position.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey ranks cities based on 30 factors including healthcare, culture and environment, and education and personal safety.
'Mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion,' said Jon Copestake, editor of the report

THE TOP TEN BEST CITIES
1 Vancouver, Canada
2 Melbourne, Australia
3 Vienna, Austria
4 Toronto, Canada
5 Calgary, Canada
6 Helsinki, Finland
7 Sydney, Australia
8 Perth, Australia
8 Adelaide, Australia
10 Auckland, New Zealand

...AND THE WORST
1 Harare, Zimbabwe
2 Dhaka, Bangladesh
3 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
4 Lagos, Nigeria
5 Algiers, Algeria
6 Karachi, Pakistan
7 Douala, Cameroon
8 Tehran, Iran
9 Dakar, Senegal
10 Colombo, Sri Lanka

[Pseudojim]

i can vouch for melbourne!!

I've never lived there, only visited, but it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

SO much better than sydney, imo.

[Kidd]

Did anyone else laugh when they saw the worst list? Tehran? I think that goes without saying, doesn't it? Geez...

[Ridiculous]

I'm thinking Libyan cities would rank up pretty high (er, low) on the worst list right now.

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by Kidd

Did anyone else laugh when they saw the worst list? Tehran? I think that goes without saying, doesn't it? Geez...

I was surprised at Colombo. I didn't know it was so bad there.

I am pretty sure Detroit is worse than Tehran.

[Lychee]

Wooooooo, go Melbs <3
Although I don't even live there anymore, I still call it home. Such an awesome place.

I find it interesting that none of the top cities are particularly touristy. Which I guess is why they're really liveable - because the whole city isn't revolved around tourists...

[Bevo]

Originally Posted by Pseudojim

i can vouch for melbourne!!

I've never lived there, only visited, but it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!

SO much better than sydney, imo.

Sorry but...Melbourne is a hole.

Whenever i've been there I've found it nothing but grey and depressing, the victorians can keep their city and I certainly wouldn't want to live there. GO SYDNEY!!! Sydney may have it's problems but at least it's a vibrant exciting place that doesn't have a chip on it's shoulder/superiority complex like melbourne does.

[adam88]

[sings] We're number 4! We're number 4! [/sings]

Lol. Toronto is livable in that the city is lively (our downtown doesn't shut down on the weekends like, say, Cleveland), prices aren't TOO inflated (but residents of the rest of Ontario still complain about how expensive TO real estate is), the climate is good (for Ontario) and the people are nice (for the most part. And gay-friendly, for the most part).

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by Bevo

Sorry but...Melbourne is a hole.

Whenever i've been there I've found it nothing but grey and depressing, the victorians can keep their city and I certainly wouldn't want to live there. GO SYDNEY!!! Sydney may have it's problems but at least it's a vibrant exciting place that doesn't have a chip on it's shoulder/superiority complex like melbourne does.

haha, i think both cities do... i just think melbourne is closer to being right =P

[partietraumatic]

and yet I wouldn't put any of those cities down as places i wanted to live...

[Z3ni]

I haven't heard of any of the cities in the "Worst" list lol

Ironically the most liveable cities don't make for anywhere I'd truly want to live. I'm still debating for college, however, between NYC, London, and Seoul or Gyeongju.

[Morphim]

Helsinki, yay! It's a really pretty city, and easy to live in, too.

[Saikou7]

Originally Posted by Gothitil

I am pretty sure Detroit is worse than Tehran.

ROFL

I hated Detroit >.<

"Most Livable" is such an awkward phrase. It sounds like they're trying not to offend anyone.

Back on topic, I expected most of the cities to be in Europe, and was surprised at the Aussie takeover.

[Gumtree]

Originally Posted by Bevo

Sorry but...Melbourne is a hole.

Whenever i've been there I've found it nothing but grey and depressing, the victorians can keep their city and I certainly wouldn't want to live there. GO SYDNEY!!! Sydney may have it's problems but at least it's a vibrant exciting place that doesn't have a chip on it's shoulder/superiority complex like melbourne does.

I've lived in both now, and I think they're fair equal!

Climate: Sydney
Shopping: Melb
Food: Melb
Infrastructure : Melb
City Design/Layout: Melb
Education Facilities: Sydney
Surrounding attractions: Sydney
Nightlife/Entertainment: Sydney
Beach: Sydney
Snow: Melbourne


5 - 5 !

[zeratul]

I lived in Brisbane when I visited austrlia it was quite a lovely place in the middle of a gorgeous state especially with the gold coast or whatever it was called. It's impression on me was far better than sydney. And it's always warm in Brisbane year round too, in my memory.

[Steve]

Tel Aviv for sure, all of Israels action occurs there! there is nothing you cant find over there. except super religious people who think the city is a sin


Lol

[Connor22]

and Belfast didn't even make the list... *phew*

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by zeratul

I lived in Brisbane when I visited austrlia it was quite a lovely place in the middle of a gorgeous state especially with the gold coast or whatever it was called. It's impression on me was far better than sydney. And it's always warm in Brisbane year round too, in my memory.

if you liked brisbane, you'll love the rest of the country. One of my favourite quotes re: brisbane is from Billy Connolly: "If the world ever needs an enema, they're going to insert it in brisbane".