Melbourne is once again the most liveable city in Australia, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global 2022 Liveability Index. While the Victorian capital spent the most amount of time under stay-at-home restrictions during the pandemic, it has trumped every other Australian city for this year. In the annual list, Melbourne placed first among Aussie spots and equal 10th worldwide.
Though Melbourne had previously topped the rankings for seven years in a row between 2010 and 2017, that streak came to an end in 2018. That year, it was dethroned by Vienna in Austria, which again took out first place this year as it did from 2018 to 2020.
Vienna’s victory this year came at the expense of Auckland, which tumbled from first to 34th. Last year’s top 10 was filled with Australian and New Zealand cities, including Adelaide, Wellington, Perth and Brisbane.
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These cities have all dropped significantly, with Adelaide moving from third to 30th, Wellington plummeting from fourth to 50th, Perth moving from sixth to 32nd, and Brisbane from 10th to 27th.
Melbourne tied for eighth in 2021, so although it still made the top 10 in 2022, it has dropped two spots.
“Both Australia and New Zealand benefitted in early 2021, when COVID vaccines were scarce: their closed borders kept cases down, keeping liveability high. However, this changed as a more infectious COVID wave struck in late 2021, which made closed borders less of a defence,” the report explains.
“Although New Zealand’s lockdowns ended in December, before our survey period, its cities no longer have a COVID advantage over well-vaccinated European and Canadian cities. In Australia, some states were slower to lift restrictions than others. As a result, Perth and Adelaide have lost ground since last year, and Melbourne is once again Australia’s highest-ranked city,” the Economist Intelligence Unit continues.
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The annual index ranks cities on stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure, culture and environment, giving each city a rating out of 100. Vienna achieved a score of 99.1 overall, and Melbourne received 95.1. At the other end of the list, Damascus in Syria scored 30.7, ranking in the 172nd spot.
Sydney narrowly missed out on a top 10 spot for the second year in a row. This year it was ranked 13th, after sitting at 11th in 2021. Back in 2019, it was ranked third.
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