Sydney crashes out of top 10 in world’s most liveable

The lights of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge can be seen before they were switched off for Earth Hour in Sydney, Australia, March 19, 2016. Reuters/David Gray

Melbourne has once again secured the top spot in an annual report on the best global cities to live in. Sydney, on the other hand, crashed out of the global top 10.

The 2017 Global Liveability Ranking, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit Wednesday, puts Sydney at 11. The report says a key reason for its fall from the top 10 was “heightened concerns” over terrorism.

“Sydney in Australia is another city that has seen a decline in its ranking, reflecting growing concerns over possible terror attacks in the past three years,” the EIU report states. Australia’s largest city was down from seventh place over a year ago.

The report looked into several factors including access to healthcare, food, temperature, public transportation and crime. Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore thinks transport has something to do with Sydney’s slip.

“On global scales for cities, Sydney performs strongly on most factors but we’ve been sliding down the scale over the past few years and the significant gap is transport,” news.com.au quotes Moore as saying. She added that Sydney could not get people in and out of it in a timely and predictable manner.

Despite Sydney’s slip in the ranking, the report said all the world’s 65 top cities were all very liveable. Here are top ten most liveable cities: Melbourne, Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland, Helsinki and Hamburg.

Melbourne on top

Melbourne is soaring on top of the global ranking after scoring solid marks for healthcare, education and infrastructure. Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said the result is an amazing feat that all Melburnians must be proud of.

Doyle said no other city in the world has led EIU’s Liveability index for seven consecutive years. He believes the accolade is a significant selling point for the city. He said it is specifically important in attracting international students, business owners to invest and move in Melbourne, for the best and brightest people to make the city their home and for tourists to visit.

The report found that 12 cities globally saw liveability improved while six cities recorded declines. Many of the improving cities were based in Asia. Singapore, Shanghai, Bandar Seri Begawan, Phnom Penh, Colombo and Port Moresby have been witnessing improvements.

Ultimately, the report shows that global liveability is finally improving after years of steady declines. The world has seen a global economic crisis, anti-austerity riots, refugee crisis, a European currency crisis and much more.