Vienna has earned the title of world’s most livable city for the second year in a row.
The Austrian city is the most accommodating out of the 140 ranked cities, according to the annual Global Liveability Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Known as the home of great musicians, artists and a thriving cafe culture, Vienna is unsurprisingly full of happy citizens according to MSN. In a satisfaction survey carried out by the city, citizens said they were ‘happy’ or ‘very happy’ living in Vienna, citing the environment and culture as highlights.
These cities are given a score out of 100 based on a rating of relative comfort across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
Vienna took the top place by scoring a near-perfect 99.1 out of 100, inching Melbourne out – the Australian city known for street art, fine dining and coffee culture came in second at 98.4. Melbourne lost it’s seven year hold on the title to Vienna last year.
While Vienna received top scores for environment, other countries saw a downgrade in this area. The EIU noted that that while categories such as stability are improving, the climate and culture categories are seeing a decline.
‘A slew of cities in emerging markets that are among the most exposed to the effects of climate change have seen their scores downgraded,’ they said in the index summary report. Despite focusing on emerging markets, the report acknowledged that climate change is a global issue.
‘Only a coordinated global effort to limit the rising temperature of the planet will succeed in maintaining current levels of liveability across the world.
Top 10 most liveable cities in the world according to the Global Liveability Index:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Tokyo, Japan
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia
Image source: Pixabay
