Melbourne has been the most livable
city in the world for the past seven years.
But this year it lost the top spot to Vienna.
Home to Strauss and Schubert and famous for its
coffee houses, Vienna scored an almost perfect 99.1%.
But what makes a city livable?
The Economist intelligence unit has been analyzing this.
It has ranked 140 cities according to stability,
education, healthcare, infrastructure,
and culture and environment.
Most livable cities tend to be mid sized in wealthy
countries and with low population densities.
Copenhagen is the only other European city in the top 10.
Australia and Canada each have three cities and Japan two.
Western Europe and North America are
the most livable regions in the world.
The Middle East and Africa the least.
While asia and Australasia are home to some
of the world's most livable and unlivable cities.
Many factors impact how livable a city
is like natural disasters.
Hurricanes Irma and Maria destroyed much
of Puerto Rico this year.
The capital San Juan fell further
in rank than any other city.
The ending of Ivory Coast's 13 year UN peacekeeping
mission demonstrated a step toward stability
and a steady increase in its livability.
The rankings of cities like Damascus, Lagos,
Karachi, and Tripoli show the extent to which
conflict contributes to low livability scores.
And Caracas, the least livable city in Latin America,
is only set to get worse owing to the deepening
economic crisis and rising authoritarianism in Venezuela.
Mega cities like London, Paris, and New York have high
levels of crime, congestion, and public transport problems
which keep them out of the top spots.
This year the world overall has become
a better place to live.
This is because of the decrease in terrorism threats,
specifically in western Europe.
Vienna's increased stability is what has
given it the edge this year.