Melbourne (pictured) was the top-ranked of seven Australasian cities named in the survey's top 20. Photo / Getty Images
Melbourne (pictured) was the top-ranked of seven Australasian cities named in the survey's top 20. Photo / Getty Images
Auckland and Wellington have been placed 12th and 23rd respectively in a British survey ranking the liveability of 140 of the world's major centres
Australian cities also performed well, occupying five of the top 20 spots in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2009 Liveability survey.
It assessed cities based on stability,health care, education, infrastructure and culture and environment, giving each one a rating out of 100.
The top Australasian city was Melbourne, which ranked third in the world, behind Vancouver in Canada and the Austrian city of Vienna.
Perth was equal fifth with Calgary in Canada, with Sydney sharing ninth place with Zurich in Switzerland, Adelaide in 11th place and Brisbane 16th on the list.
As well as Vancouver and Calgary, Canadian cities also featured strongly in the top 20, with Toronto (4th) and Montreal (17th). Wellington finished 23rd.
US centres were well down the list. Pittsburgh ranked highest, in 29th place.
The highest-ranked Asian city was Osaka in Japan (13th). The next highest was Hong Kong (equal 39th with Madrid, Spain) followed by Singapore (54th) and Seoul, South Korea (58th).
The worst city to live on earth is Harare, the strife-torn capital of Zimbabwe.
"The performance of Asian cities reflects the diverse levels of development throughout the region," EIU spokesman Jon Copestake said.
"Australian cities represent many of the best aspects of liveability, while instability in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh means that cities in South Asia fare much worse."
The Economist Intelligence Unit's survey comes just two months after another quality of living survey covering 215 cities placed Auckland 4th (equal with Vancouver) and Wellington 12th.
The Economist Intelligence Unit is a branch of The Economist Group, which publishes The Economist, a weekly news magazine, in London.
Top 10 cities to live in according to The Economist Intelligence Unit's survey:
1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Perth, Australia and
Calgary, Canada
7. Helsinki, Finland
8. Geneva, Switzerland
9. Sydney, Australia and
Zurich, Switzerland
