Magazine names Melbourne most liveable city in the world for 6th consecutive year

Melbourne CBD — The central business district (CBD) of Melbourne can be seen from the area located along the Yarra River called Southbank located in Melbourne, Australia, July 27, 2016. Reuters/David Gray

Lockheed Martin would build its first R&D laboratory in Australia in Melbourne, while the city is one of two sites of IBM’s data centre. The choice of the city as one of the best places to live in and do business by multinationals like Lockheed and IBM was confirmed anew when a business magazine named Melbourne for the sixth straight year the most liveable city in the world.

With its almost perfect score of 97.5 of 100, Melbourne beat Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary for the top spot. The capital city of Victoria state in Australia has held on to that place since 2010 and kept the title again in 2016, according to The Economist.

The city topped the annual listing by getting the highest marks for healthcare, infrastructure and education.

Herald Sun reports that there was a 20 percent decline in liveability of the cities surveyed by the business magazine because of heightened fears over terrorism. In 2016, more than 1,000 attacks have been reported in some of the cities. Hit hard by terrorism are cities in France, Turkey, the US and Belgium.

“Factors such as social unrest in many 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 have compounded the decline,” The Economist adds.

While Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says the sixth consecutive year the city was named most liveable is a “fantastic accolade” which all residents must be proud of, the title should not be taken for granted. He says Melbourne officials are constantly planning and implementing policies that would continue to improve quality of life in the city.

The report scored 140 of the world’s major cities in healthcare, education, stability, culture, environment and infrastructure. Vienna, in second place, got a rating of 97.4, followed by Vancouver (97.3), Toronto (97.2) and Calgary (96.6) which was tied with Adelaide. Perth is in seventh spot with 95.9, reports ABC.

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