Plan B Forum

MELBOURNE has again been crowned the world’s most liveable city for the fourth year in a row.

Melbourne outperformed 139 cities to top the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Survey and achieved a perfect score in healthcare, education, sport and infrastructure.

It comes just one day after the Victorian capital was crowned the world’s friendliest city by Conde Nast Traveller magazine

The scores are calculated by assigning every city a rating across categories including stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure and culture and environment.

The best-scoring cities tend to be medium in size, located in wealthier countries and have relatively low population density.

Eight of the top ten most liveable cities are in Australia or Canada.

Premier Denis Napthine said low crime rates, world-class healthcare and leading education institutions had all played a part in Melbourne taking out the top award for another year.

“This is a great result for Melbourne and Victoria,” Dr Napthine said.

“It’s terrific to know that we scored the perfect score in healthcare, education, infrastructure and sport, and we got terrific scores in culture and environment and in stability.”

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said he was proud that Melbourne had received the top honour.

“To be named the world’s most liveable city for four consecutive years is a great honour and a testament to the enviable lifestyle that Melbourne’s offers,” the Lord Mayor said.

“Safety, sustainability and smart growth have been the keys to Melbourne’s liveability and prosperity.”

He said the high scores in health and education were “particularly pleasing”.

The Economist says its ranking report, which scores lifestyle categories across 140 cities, shows average liveability across the world had fallen by 0.7% since 2009, led by a 1.3% fall in the score for stability and safety.