Australian location awarded ‘most liveable city’
Melbourne has taken out the spot of the ‘most liveable city’ worldwide, according to a recent survey.
Recently published rankings in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Liveability Survey found Melbourne topping the list for the second year in a row.
Premier Ted Baillieu said that this is a result of a vibrant lifestyle, competitive business environment and skilled workforce.
Categories in which the state was particularly successful included healthcare, education and infrastructure.
“Melbourne has a vibrant multicultural community, a renowned arts scene and world famous
food and wine as well as Australia’s best shopping and leisure opportunities,” Mr Baillieu said.
Three other Australian cities also found themselves within the top 10 ranked spots.
Adelaide, coming in fifth, narrowly beat Sydney and Perth, rated sixth and eighth, respectively.
“Certainly, infrastructural development has been a driver over the last few years, with improvements to infrastructure in key cities in Australia, where the federal government initiated an ambitious long-term road-building programme in 2010,” an EIU summary of the report suggested.
South Australia’s overtaking of New South Wales was certainly the result of an increased infrastructure score.
"In Adelaide projects completed in recent years under the Strategic Infrastructure Plan for South Australia have been enough to move the city above Sydney, whose score is unchanged,” said EIU survey editor Jon Copestake.
Each of 140 cities is rated across five categories, including: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Within these categories, 30 different factors are considered.
The Australian cities represented differ by just 1.6 per cent in their overall liveability scores.