Melbourne made it three years in a row as the world’s most livable city, according to the 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Livability Survey, according to the CNN.
The top cities and indeed much of the rankings remained similar to last year, with Australian and New Zealand cities landing five of the top 10 spots. Canadian cities made up another three of the top 10 positions.
Elsewhere in the EIU rankings, 28 cities saw changes in their rankings with negative livability changes driven by “civil unrest, with the Arab Spring, European austerity and Chinese discontent all contributing,” according to the EIU report.
Vienna came a close second while Canadian cities Vancouver and Toronto stayed at third and fourth; Calgary tied with Adelaide for fifth place.
At the bottom of the list, due to ongoing civil conflict in Syria is Damascus — dropping 10 rankings.
A total of 140 cities were surveyed under five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Top 10 most livable cities (unchanged in 2013 from 2012):
1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
=5. Calgary, Canada
=5. Adelaide, Australia
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand
