Vienna has been ranked as the world's most liveable city for the third consecutive year, according to the annual list by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [be77ac53]. The EIU evaluated 173 cities based on factors such as healthcare, culture and environment, stability, infrastructure, and education. Vienna received perfect scores in stability, healthcare, education, and infrastructure, solidifying its position as the top city to live in. However, it scored slightly lower in the culture and environment category due to a lack of major sporting events [be77ac53].
Copenhagen retained its second place position in the rankings, while Zurich moved up to third. Melbourne fell to fourth place, and Calgary tied with Geneva for fifth. Vancouver and Sydney tied for seventh, and Osaka and Auckland tied for ninth. Honolulu was the highest-ranked US city at 23rd. Toronto dropped out of the top 10 to 12th place. London was ranked 45th. The study also noted an overall decline in stability scores in Western Europe due to increasing instances of disruptive protests and crime. North America had the highest average score for education but lower marks for infrastructure due to an acute housing crisis [b8f2b741].
The rankings also revealed some changes in other regions. Hong Kong saw the largest score improvement, moving up to 50th. Tel Aviv dropped 20 places to 112th due to the ongoing conflict in the region. UAE cities saw significant score increases, while Vancouver fell backwards in the rankings. The bottom four cities on the list, including Lagos, had not seen any improvement in their scores since 2023. Damascus, Syria ranked as the least liveable city [be77ac53].
The report highlighted continuing stress on liveability due to civil unrest and demonstrations worldwide. It also mentioned that Western Europe performed well overall, with 30 cities averaging a score of 92 out of 100. North America scored high in education but faced challenges in infrastructure due to housing issues in Canada. Asian cities like Hong Kong and those in the UAE improved their rankings, while Tel Aviv dropped significantly due to ongoing conflict [be77ac53].
A study by Forbes Advisor ranked Singapore as the world's safest city for tourists and Hong Kong as the 13th safest [3dcc22be]. The study analyzed 60 cities based on factors such as crime rate, personal safety, service quality, and online attack risk. The ranking has prompted a local lawmaker to call for more CCTV cameras and tighter laws. Singapore topped the list, followed by Tokyo, Toronto, Sydney, and Zurich. The study has sparked a debate about the need for increased surveillance in Hong Kong [3dcc22be].
According to another article by The Economist, the least liveable city in the world has ranked at the bottom of the EIU index for 11 years [04c2c4ed].