Melbourne loses its crown as world's most liveable city
Melbourne has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index for the past seven years, but has lost the crown in 2018. The new No.1 is fierce rival Vienna.
The two cities have been jostling for position for years, but Vienna took top spot on the back of an improved security situation and a lower crime rate, scoring 99.1 points to Melbourne’s 98.4.
Rounding out the top five were Osaka in Japan, Calgary in Canada and Sydney. Adelaide came in at 10, Perth at 14 and Brisbane at 22.
“Both (Vienna and Melbourne) saw an improvement in their score this year,” Economist Intelligence Unit spokesperson Simon Baptist told ABC Radio. “But Vienna's improvement was a bit more than Melbourne's, so it just sneaked over the top to become number one.
“Melbourne's score, [which was] already very high, improved a little bit in the availability of modern music and … Vienna's score improved because its crime rate fell.
“Because crime is weighted more highly in the survey… that is what allowed Vienna to tick over Melbourne.”
The cities are ranked across five categories: infrastructure, stability, education, healthcare and culture and environment.
I was in Vienna Christmas and Boxing day last year, beautiful and clean, easy to find your way around, didnt have to line up for the Sachertorte, got straight in, unbelievable CHirstmas markerts. Got a great Tshirt...no kangaroos in Austria. Havent been too Melbourne for a few years but I liked it, well planned, easy to navigate, but the right turning thing was wierd. I don't know i think this is a very subjective view I think Brisbane is the best place to live in and I have lived in another state and I loved living in Adelaide as well. I think having visited a lot of other countries there are things that are great about Australia that are not really included in these polls. For instance, as a single with no family, Adelaide had a great singles scene because I got a group together and we used to go out every weekend and the group grew from three to sixty. Once I left it fell apart. Adelaide is great if you have a big family. I also lived on the Gold Coast for three years. It was very expenisive and there wasnt much for singles, the odd few things. Once again if you had a family and loved the water, the Gold or Sunshine Coast would be perfect for you. On the other hand, Brisbane has something for everyone. The weather is fantastic, 28 today and no humidity. Its been like this for most of the winter. We do get the odd cold morning. There's always something on and to do if you like going out. Plenty of fesitvals and arts etc. Always something on at Qpac. Riverfire and the Brisbane Festival starts in a few weeks, then of course there's the spectacular and sometimes destructive storms. Yesterday was a public holiday so I sat on my balcony enjoying the sun and read my book and listened to music. Middle of winter and we are still in shorts! These types of things are never talked about...the day to day stuff.