For the fifth year in a row, Melbourne has been named as the world’s most liveable city by the The Economist Intelligence Unit Survey.
The survey, released yearly by the Economist Intelligence Unit, scored cities out of 100 in the areas of healthcare, education, stability, culture and environment, and infrastructure.
Melbourne again achieved a score of 97.5, with Adelaide ranked equal-fifth (96.6), while fellow Australian capitals Sydney and Perth also scraped into the top 10, seventh and eighth respectively.
“Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density,” the EIU report said.
“These can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure.”
A decreasing homicide rate was a contributing factor to the Victorian capital’s success.
Canadians have also hit the liveability jackpot, with Alberta’s capital of Calgary coming in joint-fifth with Adelaide, while Vancouver in the west of the country and the eastern city of Toronto were named as third and fourth respectively.
Although the top of the list celebrates prosperity, it also highlights those failing to meet their resident’s standards for liveability.
While 20 per cent of the cities surveyed by the magazine’s Intelligence Unit experienced declines in liveability over the past year, Australian cities were found to be “a relative picture of stability”.
None of the five Australian cities saw their ranks change in this year’s report, with Melbourne ranked the most liveable, Adelaide fifth, Sydney seventh, Perth eighth and Brisbane 18th.
The world’s five most liveable cities were Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Adelaide and Calgary while The Five Least Liveable Cities were Damascus, Dhaka, Port Moresby, Lagos and Tripoli.