Still the world’s most liveable city: Melbourne

The Australian city retains its top ranking for the fourth consecutive year while Damascus plummets to the bottom of the list.

Melbourne tops the ranking as the world’s most pleasant city to live in for the fourth year running, but an Economist Intelligence Unit poll also finds that turmoil in Ukraine and the Middle East have pushed other cities down the list.

Vienna, Vancouver and Toronto captured second, third and fourth places in the list of 140 cities released on Aug 19. At the bottom was Damascus, the capital of war-torn Syria, while just above it, in ascending order were: Dhaka, Bangladesh; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and Lagos, Nigeria. The Economist survey also includes a listing of cities whose “liveability” has declined most in the past five years.

That's where everyone should be: Melbourne, seen from the banks of the Yarra River, is ranked as the most liveable city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual survey. The Australian city has topped the survey for the past four years. – Reuters

Damascus again fares worst, recording a 28% decline in five years but others on the list include the Russian cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, both declining by 3.3%, Sofia down 3.5% and Athens dropping by 3.7%. Kiev, capital of Ukraine where pro-Russian rebels are battling Ukrainian forces in the east of the country, dropped 17.8%, the survey found and is ranked 124th of 140.

“The ranking... shows that, since 2009, average liveability across the world has fallen by 0.7% led by a 1.3% fall in the score for stability and safety,” the EIU said in a statement.

“While this may seem marginal, it highlights that over 50 of the cities surveyed have seen declines in liveability over the last five years. Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have underlined continuing fallout from a decade of destabilising events ranging from the war in Iraq to the Palestinian Intifada and the Arab Spring,” it added.

The EIU’s survey assesses the liveability of cities based on a number of key factors, including stability and the quality of healthcare, culture, the environment, education and infrastructure. – Reuters

EIU's Top 10 Most Liveable Cities 2014

1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Adelaide, Australia
6. Calgary, Canada
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

And the Bottom 10 

10. Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
9. Tripoli, Libya
8. Douala, Cameroon
7. Harare, Zimbabwe
6. Algiers, Algeria
5. Karachi, Pakistan
4. Lagos, Nigeria
3. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
2. Dhaka, Bangladesh
1. Damascus, Syria