Melbourne, the most liveable city in the world, but not Damascus, Lagos or Harare

Sorry New York, London and Paris... the Australian city of Melbourne, has been declared the most liveable city in the world for the seventh year running by the Economist’s annual global liveability survey, while Harare, Karachi, Algiers, and Lagos, are named among the least liveable cities.

It is the first time in the survey’s 15-year history that a city has held the No 1 rank in its own right for seven consecutive years. 

The Economist’s report looked at factors including crime, access to healthcare, public transport, how good the food is, culture — and even climate, corruption and censorship.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2017 Global Liveability Report, a decade of declines in the ease of living has now stabilized, although a number of cities have suffered from the “spreading perceived threat of terrorism”.

The five most improved cities over the past five years in the annual report are Tehran, Dubai, Abidjan, Harare and Colombo — although all remain in the lower half of the 140 cities ranked.

But you probably don’t want to set up a home in Tripoli, Libya; Lagos, Nigeria or war torn Damascus in Syria, all of which are among the least liveable cities with Kiev, Damascus, Tripoli, Detroit and Moscow, among the biggest decliners.

Top 10 cities to live in: 
1. Melbourne
2. Vienna
3. Vancouver
4. Toronto
5. Calgary 
6. Adelaide 
7. Perth 
8. Auckland 
9. Helsinki,  
10. Hamburg.

10 least liveable cities:
1. Damascus
2. Lagos
3. Tripoli
4. Dhaka
5. Port Moresby
6. Algiers
7. Karachi
8. Harare
9. Douala
10. Kiev.