The relentlessly affable Aussies have done it again. Melbourne comes out on top for the second consecutive year on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) bi-annual survey of livability.
We dig into why Melbourne is perennially the best and which cities are the best in the world to live in with Jon Copestake, editor of the EIU’s cost of living and livability studies, in our new article, “Best Place to Live in the World.”
We ask Copestake why Melbourne always seems to be a top ranked city. “Well, Melbourne just presents very few challenges and has top scores in categories like education and healthcare and has relatively low crime levels, in comparison with other countries,” Copestake explains. “It also has quite a good culture, there are a lot of things to see and do. It hosts major global sporting events, it has a vibrant theater and restaurant scene and it is quite a diverse city. It ticks all the boxes well.”
He points out, though, that the scores of many of the top cities in the survey are quite close. In fact, #2 Vienna, Austria trails Melbourne, which has a score of 97.5, by one-tenth of a point and Vancouver, Canada is behind by just two-tenths of a point. Measured over the last five-year period, though, Vancouver is #1, Vienna #2 and Melbourne #3.
We also wondered why the top 10 rankings are dominated by Australian and Canadian cities and ask Copestake to explain. “The best cities are not necessarily the best cities,” he says. “They are actually the less worst cities. They do very well because they present the fewest challenges to lifestyle you may encounter. I have a theory about this, though. I think mid-size cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to do well because they are large enough to support plenty of cultural activities but are small enough to not be overburdened by crime rates and infrastructure problems.”
If you’re in the process of considering or planning a move abroad, you’ll want to read the full article to find your best place to live in the world. 2