Vienna has held off Melbourne to retain the top spot on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index for 2019, further strengthening its reputation as the world’s most pleasant city, while the ‘gilets jaunes’ protests hurt Paris’ score.
Melbourne, Australia took the second-place spot, following close behind Vienna’s score. Vienna had taken the top spot from Melbourne last year after seven consecutive years at No. 1.
Sydney, Australia; Osaka, Japan; and Calgary, Canada make up the remaining top five on the annual Global Liveability Index of 140 cities around the world.
Not one U.S. city landed in the top 10 this year. Honolulu scored the highest among U.S. cities, ranking 22nd. Atlanta trailed at 33rd, followed by Pittsburgh at 34th and Seattle at 36th.
The EIU’s index ranks cities by five headline criteria. Stability and culture & environment are the two most important categories, weighted equally at 25% of the total. Healthcare and infrastructure are also matched at 20%, with education coming in last with a 10% weighting.
Damascus in war-torn Syria remained the worst-ranked city, below Lagos in Nigeria and the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, which swapped places.
The world’s most liveable cities 2019
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Sydney, Australia
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Vancouver, Canada
7. Toronto, Canada
7. Tokyo, Japan
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
10. Adelaide, Australia
The world’s least liveable cities 2019
1. Damascus, Syria
2. Lagos, Nigeria
3. Dhaka, Bangladesh
4. Tripoli, Libya
5. Karachi, Pakistan
6. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
7. Harare, Zimbabwe
8. Douala, Cameroon
9. Algiers, Algeria
10. Caracas, Venezuela
