The Economist Intelligence Unit or EUI has released its ranking of the 140 most livable cities across the world. Included in the top 10 are Vienna, Melbourne, Osaka, Calgary, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Tokyo, Copenhagen, and Adelaide. Toronto and Tokyo tied at number seven.
This is the first time that Austria's capital, Vienna, has made it to number one according to EUI. Vienna displaced Melbourne from the top spot, ending its seven consecutive years of leading the list.
Both Melbourne and Vienna have reflected improvements in their liveability index over the last six months. Vienna, however, rated higher in the stability category by 0.7 of a percentage point compared to Melbourne. With this, Austria's capital city scored 99.1 out of 100 while Melbourne only scored 98.4.
Osaka made the impressive climb to third place this year from being in the ninth place in 2017. The city has managed to close its gap with Melbourne within just a matter of six months. Osaka's improvements were attributed to its high scores in quality and availability of public transportation and excellence in infrastructure. The city also showed a consistent decline in crime rates.
Four cities have fallen from the top ten list this year. Auckland fell from 8th in 2017 to 12th this year, Perth from 7th to 14th, Helsinki from 9th to 16th, and Hamburg from 10th to 18th. Their fall, however, did not mean that their liveability ratings have decreased this year. It only means that other countries have posted stronger performance compared to theirs.
In fact, the 2018 list showed that overall liveability across the 140 cities surveyed for the list increased by 0.7 percent in the past six months an 0.9 percent in the past year. Improvements were noted across all five categories that were used to measure each of the cities' ranking. These categories are infrastructure, stability, education, healthcare, and culture and environment.
EUI noted that those that scored best in their rankings are mid-sized cities in wealthier countries. Several cities in the top ten have relatively low population density compared to others.
Six cities that made it to the top ten are located in Australia and Canada. Australia has an average population density of 3.2 people per square kilometers. Canada, on the other hand, has 4 people per square kilometers. EUI stressed that low population improved recreational activities decrease crime levels, and does not overburdened infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Forbes noted that not one of the cities in the United States made it to the top ten. Indeed, New York only made it to number 57. This could be attributed to how busy the American cities are as is the case with London at number 48 and Paris at number 19. These cities were noted to have higher crime levels and the congestion made them less comfortable compared to the cities that made it to the top 10.
