Melbourne has ranked as the world's most liveable city for the sixth year in a row, but terrorism and social unrest have dragged many ratings lower.
Melbourne is the world's most liveable city, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Ranking index. It is the sixth year the city has been awarded the prize, which ranks lifestyle factors in 140 cities around the world.
The index ranks residents' lifestyles according to stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Melbourne scored 97.5 out of 100, only one point more than second-place getter, Vienna, Austria. Adelaide was equal fifth with Calgary, Canada.
Premier Daniel Andrews said, "This is a result all Victorians can be so proud of. It’s just more proof there’s no city on earth quite like Melbourne.”
“We’ve once again outperformed some of the world’s best cities when it comes to healthcare, education, infrastructure, culture and environment, and sport.”
“We’ve got something for everyone and the best of everything in Melbourne. Our title proves it,” he said.
Sydney dropped out of the top 10 due to a "heightened perceived threat of terrorism", according to a summary on the report.
Worryingly, liveability deteriorated in 29, or 20%, of the cities in the last 12 months, mainly due to heightened fears of terrorism. The report points out that with more than 1,000 reported attacks around the world in 2016, cities in France, Turkey, the US and Belgium all saw their livability deteriorate.
Social unrest in US cities due to the deaths of black people in police custody, tensions in Eastern Europe and Asia, and the ongoing civil wars in Ukraine, Syria and Libya also caused declines in liveability.
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