Vienna has been named the world’s most liveable city, knocking Melbourne off the top spot.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) annual survey ranked Vienna as number one, beating 140 cities on factors including political and social stability, education, crime and access to healthcare.
Melbourne has seen the top spot for the past seven years, however, was knocked off due to a downgraded threat of militant attacks in western Europe and Vienna’s low crime rates.
“One of the sub-categories that Vienna does really well in is the prevalence of petty crime … It’s proven to be one of the safest cities in Europe,” said the survey’s editor, Roxana Slavcheva.
“While in the past couple of years cities in Europe were affected by the spreading perceived threat of terrorism in the region, which caused heightened security measures, the past year has seen a return to normalcy,” the EIU said on Tuesday.
“A long-running contender to the title, Vienna has succeeded in displacing Melbourne from the top spot due to increases in the Austrian capital’s stability category ratings.”
Both gained full points in education, infrastructure and healthcare.
Manchester rose 16 places, the greatest improvement by any European city.
Manchester had “shown resilience in the city’s recovery from a recent, high-profile terrorist attack, which previously shook up stability”.
Last year’s survey was criticized for demoting Manchester after the Manchester Arena attack.
London was ranked 48th place this year.
On the other end of the survey was Damascus in Syria as the least liveable city, which was closely followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh.
The top five cities are as follows:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Osaka, Japan
4. Calgary, Canada
5. Sydney, Australia
The bottom five cities are as follows:
1. Damascus, Syria
2. Dhaka, Bangladesh
3. Lagos, Nigeria
4. Karachi, Pakistan
5. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea