Melbourne is the best city in the world to live, according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) global liveability survey.
BY MICHAEL YARDNEY
Other Australian cities in the top 10 include Sydney (ranked 6) and Perth and Adelaide (ranked joint 8).
Brisbane lagged the other Australian cities ranking 21.
"Australia, with a low population density and relatively low crime rates, continues to supply some of the world’s most liveable cities," said Jon Copestake, editor for the EIU liveability report.
Of course our cities also ranked amongst the most expensive cities in the world to live, but I’d argue that’s the price you pay to live in the best country in the world.
In another recent EIU report Sydney and Melbourne ranked as the sixth and seventh most expensive cities in the world in which to live.
This particular survey assessed the cost of living in relation to the cost of goods in shops as well as the cost of housing. Cost of living in our big capitals was found to be about 40 per cent higher than in New York, mostly because of steep housing costs in Australia.
Even in Perth, which boasted the strongest purchasing power in Australia, aided by the fattest pay packets in the land, the cost of living came in at about 25 per cent higher than New York.
Not surprisingly, the debt-ridden Eurozone countries ranked poorly in the EIU liveability rankings.
The worst places to live among the 140 locations surveyed by EIU were Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh’s Dhaka and Zimbabwe’s Harare.
| Top 10 places in the World | |||
| Country |
City
|
Rank
|
Overall rating (100 = ideal)
|
| Australia |
Melbourne
|
1
|
97.5
|
| Austria |
Vienna
|
2
|
97.4
|
| Canada |
Vancouver
|
3
|
97.3
|
| Canada |
Toronto
|
4
|
97.2
|
| Canada |
Calgary
|
5
|
96.6
|
| Australia |
Sydney
|
6
|
96.1
|
| Finland |
Helsinki
|
7
|
96.0
|
| Australia |
Perth
|
8
|
95.9
|
| Australia |
Adelaide
|
9
|
95.9
|
| New Zealand |
Auckland
|
10
|
95.7
|
| Bottom 10 | |||
| Country |
City
|
Rank
|
Overall rating (100 = ideal)
|
| Cote d’Ivoire | Abidjan | 131 | 45.9 |
| Iran | Tehran | 132 | 45.8 |
| Cameroon | Douala | 133 | 44.0 |
| Pakistan | Karachi | 134 | 40.9 |
| Libya | Tripoli | 135 | 40.4 |
| Algeria | Algiers | 136 | 40.2 |
| Nigeria | Lagos | 137 | 39.0 |
| Papua New Guinea | Port Moresby | 138 | 38.9 |
| Bangladesh | Dhaka | 139 | 38.7 |
| Zimbabwe | Harare | 140 | 38.2 |
Where do you think is the best place to live? Did the EIU’s survey get it right?
Michael Yardney is the director of Metropole Property Investment Strategists, a best-selling author and one of Australia’s leading experts in wealth creation through property. Subscribe to his e-magazine at www.propertyupdate.com.au.
