Melbourne, Australia's second biggest city, is the best place in the world to live, according to a widely watched ranking of 140 locations released Tuesday, dpa reported.
Melbourne scored 97.5 per cent, just beating Vienna on 97.4 per cent and Vancouver on 97.3, in the Economist Intelligence Unit's latest annual survey of the best and the worst living conditions.
Sydney, Perth and Adelaide made a top 10 that also placed Canada's Toronto and Calgary, Finland's Helsinki and Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city.
Survey editor Jon Copestake said Vancouver had lost its pre-eminence for the first time in almost a decade.
"Australia, with a low population density and relatively low crime rates, continues to supply some of the world's most liveable cities," Copeland said in a statement. "Despite the rising cost of living driven by the strong Australian dollar, these cities offer a range of factors to make them highly attractive."
At the other end of the scale were Port Moresby, the Papua New Guinea capital, Bangladesh's Dhaka and, the least attractive location, Zimbabwe's Harare.
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