For a record seven years, Melbourne has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index — but things have changed.
Vienna has dislodged the Victorian capital as the most pleasant city to live in.
The two cities have been neck-and-neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centres for years, and are separated by less than a point. Vienna scored 99.1 and Melbourne scored 98.4.
Melbourne has clinched the title for the past seven editions but a downgraded threat of militant attacks in western Europe, as well as the Austrian capital’s low crime rate, helped nudge Vienna into first place.
“Both cities saw an improvement in their score this year. But Vienna’s improvement was a bit more than Melbourne’s so it just sneaked over the top to become number one,” The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Simon Baptist told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“Melbourne’s score, [which was] already very high, improved a little bit in the availability of modern music and … Vienna’s score improved because its crime rate fell.
“Because crime is weighted more highly in the survey… that is what allowed Vienna to tick over Melbourne.”
Sydney was the second highest Australian city, ranking fifth.
Vienna regularly tops a larger ranking of cities by quality of life compiled by consulting firm Mercer.
It is the first time it has topped the EIU’s survey, which began in 2004
Most liveable cities:
Vienna, Austria
Melbourne, Australia
Osaka, Japan
Calgary, Canada
Sydney, Australia
Melbourne’s security rating unchanged
The cities are ranked across five categories — infrastructure, stability, education, healthcare and culture and environment.
Vienna and Melbourne scored maximum points in the healthcare, education and infrastructure categories.
Melbourne extended its lead in the culture and environment component, but that was outweighed by Vienna’s improved stability ranking.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said even though Melbourne lost the top spot, the city had its best score in eight years.
Last year, Melbourne scored 97.5.
“We’re a competitive bunch and I know that we’re all going to be working hard to make our way back up to number one in the future,” she said.
While law and order has dominated headlines and political debate in Melbourne, Mr Baptist said the city’s security ranking had not changed.
“I know it’s been a big issue in the city recently and [there’s been] lots of debate but from the data we look at we see no change,” he said.
“Melbourne does have a worse ranking for crime than Vienna does, but Melbourne has the same ranking it had last year — it’s just that Vienna’s has gone down.
“It’s worth noting that the top 30 or so cities in this index all ranked very, very high.”
Singapore, for example, is rated at number 31 but has a score of 91 our of 100, Mr Baptist said.
Billie Giles-Corti, from RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research, said most Australian cities were very liveable, but it was important for Melbourne to take some lessons from the findings.
“You see people riding around in suits in Vienna going to their meetings on a bike. And it’s safe cycling,” she said.
“You see medium-density housing, really high quality medium-density housing throughout the city, which makes it more intense but high quality living.”
Osaka, which did not make last year’s top 10, is now just 0.7 of a percentage point behind Melbourne. ABC News
