There are many factors which make a city liveable such as healthcare, infrastructure, education, environment and culture.
Melbourne has made a record by earning the title of the Most Liveable City for the seventh time, consecutively. Quite amazingly, it has beaten 140 cities to earn this title.
As per the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Report 2017, Melbourne scored 97.5 out of 100 on the index. If we look at the parameters separately, then Melbourne’s score in healthcare, education and infrastructure is perfect 100 while in culture & environment and stability, the city scored 95.1 and 95, respectively. These scores are almost similar to its scores of the last year’s liveability index.
The proud owner of Melbourne, Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, said this in an official release,
“We do not take this title for granted, (We will) work constantly to ensure we are protecting and enhancing our liveability for future generations. I want to thank the people of Melbourne, the institutions of Melbourne, it’s an act where we all come together. We will use that as part of our branding — never underestimate the importance of marketing that, particularly into our Asian market, into Asia and how important it is.”
He adds that there are problems in every city of the world but what matters is whether steps are taken to solve them are not.
In his words,
“That doesn’t mean we are a perfect city by any means … I would hope that a city like ours would keep a focus on those who are most vulnerable, those who are worried about housing affordability, young people trying to get into education or a job, those who are vulnerable and homeless.”
The second spot was taken by Vienna while Vancouver secured the third spot. The report said that though there has been no change in the position of top five cities, “the past few years have seen increasing instability across the world, causing volatility in the scores of many cities”.
The World’s Least Liveable Cities include Damascus, Lagos, Tripoli and Dhaka. Here’s the list of bottom 10 cities:
Hopefully, some day we will also see Indian cities in the top ten list of most liveable cities. What do you say?