Liveable Cities Rankings 2018: Melbourne Loses Top Spot

Wikimedia Commons

If you’ve been thinking about abandoning your urban dwelling for greener pastures (and a better quality of life), it’s time to pack those bags and head for Central Europe.

The Economist Intelligence Unit releases the Global Liveability Index annually, and for the past seven years, Melbourne, Australia has easily swiped the top spot away from competing locales. But 2018 is proving to be the year of change — Vienna, Austria just stole that number one seat from the beloved Aussie city, and for good reasons. The Austrian capital received a near-perfect score of 99.1 out of 100 after being evaluated on criteria like stability, health care and the environment. Melbourne then trailed behind in second place, followed by Osaka, Japan in third place.

Canada and Australia claimed six of the top 10 spots in the index, which suggests that they know something about living well that the rest of us have yet to learn. And interestingly enough, major destinations like London, England (48th) and New York City (57th) didn’t even come close to cracking the top 10, due to their struggles with crime and public transportation catering to their massive populations. In fact, the United States didn’t hit the top 10 at all. Honolulu, Hawaii got the closest with 23rd place.

MaxPixel

Below are the rankings for the 10 most liveable cities, followed by the 10 least liveable cities.

The 10 Most Liveable Cities

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Osaka, Japan
4. Calgary, Canada
5. Sydney, Australia
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Toronto, Canada (tie)
7. Tokyo, Japan (tie)
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia

The 10 Least Liveable Cities

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

Across the board, the liveability index evaluated 140 urban centers on 30 different criteria related to safety, health care, educational resources, infrastructure and the environment. The general trends in this year’s report revealed that mid-sized cities in wealthier countries seem to fare the best. The manageable population density makes it more likely that the city’s infrastructure can properly serve its residents, and the financial status tends to ward off social instability and troublesome crime rates.

To view the rankings in full, check out the 2018 Global Liveability Index here.

5 Midwestern Towns That Will Pay You To Move There

These Are The Best Countries In The World For Women To Live And Work