Most livable cities include Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary in top 5
EIU report ranks 140 cities worldwide, topped once again by Melbourne, based on lifestyle challenges
An annual list ranking the world's most livable cities has once again given props to three in Canada.
The list, compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), affiliated with the Economist magazine, puts Vancouver third, Toronto fourth and Calgary in a tie for fifth with Adelaide, Australia.
Melbourne, Australia, took first place for the fifth consecutive year.
Five years ago, Vancouver topped the global list, Toronto was fourth and Calgary was fifth.
The topical report ranks 140 cities worldwide based on living conditions and challenges affecting lifestyles. These include weighted categories such as stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. The results are scored and ranked, pitting cities against one another.
Since 2010, 57 of the cities surveyed "have seen declines in livability" due in part to issues affecting stability and safety.
Cities such as Detroit, Athens, Moscow, Tunis, Kyiv, Tripoli and Damascus saw some of the most dramatic drops in the global index.
Here's the full top-10 list:
- Melbourne, Australia.
- Vienna, Austria.
- Vancouver, Canada.
- Toronto, Canada.
- Calgary, Canada, tied with Adelaide, Australia.
- Sydney, Australia.
- Perth, Australia.
- Auckland, New Zealand.
- Helsinki, Finland, tied with Zurich, Switzerland.

The January report referred to Toronto as a "consistent performer across the five other indexes" compiled by the EIU. The largest city in Canada was also named the eighth safest city worldwide.
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