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Two Australian cities have made the cut in the top 10 most liveable cities in the world, outranking the likes of Vancouver, Geneva, and Auckland.
Melbourne has been crowned the third most liveable city in the world, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Global Liveability Index.
Having risen by seven spots on the list with a score of 97.7, the Victorian capital has successfully redeemed itself from its previous fall from glory to the 10th position in 2022.
According to the report, the Victorian capital’s ascent to be the most liveable city in Australia was due to improved healthcare ratings.
In fourth place is Melbourne’s usual homegrown rival Sydney, which also found its footing following a sharp tumble in the ranking in the previous year and now boasts a score of 97.4.
Notably, the country’s two biggest cities have moved up to fill spots claimed last year by western European cities such as Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
Following a period of fluctuating rankings amid the pandemic, the report noted the Australian cities have found stability thanks to the improvement in the capitals’ scores within the healthcare category compared to last year, when the burden of COVID-19 significantly strained the cities’ healthcare systems.
Upon closer examination of the data, both cities achieved equal scores in four criteria: stability (95.0), healthcare (100), education (100), and infrastructure (100).
However, the differentiating factor emerged in the culture and environment criterion, where the laneway capital scored 95.8, surpassing the harbourside capital’s score of 94.4.
The report noted the observed “shift back towards normality” after the COVID-19 pandemic has been the biggest driver of changes in EIU’s global liveability rankings.
As COVID-19 restrictions eased, the 2023 survey conducted between 13 February and 12 March revealed significant improvements globally across the healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure criteria.
The report noted stability was the sole criterion to see a slight decline, reflecting the “increasing perceptions of corruption and civil unrest in many cities amid a cost-of-living crisis, as well as an uptick in crime in some cities”.
Data average index score across all 172 cities in the survey has now reached 76.2 out of 100, up from 73.2 a year ago. It also marks the highest score in 15 years compared to the original comparable list of 140 cities.
This return to relative normality means that frequent winner Vienna retains its position as the world’s most liveable city in the 2023 survey, with the Austrian capital reclaiming the top spot with a score of 98.4.
Following a temporary decline in 2021 due to pandemic-related restrictions when its famous museums and restaurants faced restrictions to contain the pandemic, the report highlighted the “rare” setback did not overshadow Vienna’s remarkable track record as it has now topped the rankings in eight out of the past 10 surveys conducted every six months.
Copenhagen was the only other city to outshine Australia’s two biggest cities, with the Denmark capital coming in at second place with a liveability index score of 98.0.
Further down the top 10 list were the cities of Vancouver (97.3), Zurich (97.1), Calgary (96.8), Geneva (96.8), and Toronto (96.5).
Rounding out the coveted list were Japan’s Osaka and New Zealand’s Auckland, with both cities clocking in with a score of 96.
Perth and Adelaide among top 10 biggest movers
While Perth and Adelaide failed to enter the top 10 liveable cities, the capitals secured the third and sixth place as the biggest movers in the rankings.
The Western Australian capital jumped up from 21st to come in 12th place, while the South Australian capital also rose from 19th to also land in the same spot.
Meanwhile, Damascus, Syria, remained at the bottom of the liveability index as the city saw no improvement in any category. Notably, other cities that ranked lower on the list did see improvements across healthcare and education.
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