Melbourne has been crowned as the most livable city worldwide in the latest Global Liveability Ranking 2016 released this week by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is followed by Vienna, the Austrian capital city, and the city of Vancouver, Canada.
In an era where terrorism is shaking many countries, Melbourne stands out for its stability and the quality of life it provides to it inhabitants among a total of 140 cities across the globe. In the top 10, we also have two other Australian cities, namely Adelaide and Perth ranking 6th and 7th respectively, as well as and two major Canadian cities, namely Toronto and Calgary, ranking 4th and 5th.
Auckland, New Zealand's capital city, Helsinki, the Finnish capital city, and Hamburg, one of the major German cities, for their part, rank 8th, 9th and 10th respectively. Note that these cities were assessed on several criteria, namely stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure, but without taking account the cost of living. Each of these criteria were rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable or unbearable.
Sydney, for its part, moved out of the top 10 due to recent terror threats, while Frankfurt and Berlin have dropped down due to growing instability. The report also highlights acts of violence perpetrated in some countries during the last 6 months, especially in Turkey, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, as well as in France, Belgium and the United States, thus explaining their downfall in the rankings.
Indeed, despite being global business and finance hubs, cities like New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, among others, were deplored for high crime rates, congestion, as well as public transport problems. As regards two Asian giants, Hong Kong and Singapore, these now rank 43rd and 46th respectively, mainly due to the downfall of other cities, with no improvement in their quality of life.
On the other hand, according to the report, Kiev (Ukraine), Douala (Cameroon), Harare (Zimbabwe), Karachi (Pakistan), Algiers (Algeria), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Lagos (Nigeria), Tripoli (Lebanon ) and Damascus (Syria) rank among the 10 least liveable cities for expatriates.
Find more information here: www.eiu.com
