Three Canadian cities rank high on liveability report highlighted by global unrest

An international report documenting the quality of life in cities around the world has once again placed three Canadians among the most liveable places in the world, with Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary ranking in the top five and remaining unaffected by a state of global unrest that has seen many scores decline in recent years.

The Economist Intelligence Unit has released its annual Global Liveability Report, which noted that unrest around the world was having a negative impact on many cities included on the list, though the top 10 cities remained unaffected.

“The ranking, which provides scores for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities worldwide, shows that since 2009 average liveability across the world has fallen by 0.7%, led by a 1.3% fall in the score for stability and safety,” the report notes. “While this may seem marginal it highlights that over 50 of the cities surveyed have seen declines in liveability over the last five years.”

Melbourne, Australia, topped the list as the most liveable city in the world, with Vienna placing second, just above Canada’s top cities.

Vancouver, which ranked first overall as recently as 2011, placed third of the liveability index with Toronto ranking fourth and Calgary in a tie for fifth with Adelaide.

The top 10 list of livable cities (with overall scores out of 100):

The list was identical to last year’s top 10 in both overall scores and positioning. The list of least liveable cities in the world also remained constant, but the liveability scores of several cities dropped due to international instability.

Damascus was rated the least liveable city in the world for the second straight year – and was found to be worse in ascending order than Dhaka, Bangladesh; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Lagos, Nigeria; and Karachi, Pakistan.

Damascus was also among the cities most negatively impacted by local strife. Since last year, the Syrian capital saw its overall rating drop from a score of 38.4 to 30.5. The decline was highlighted by a drop in its stability rating, which plunged from 20 to a troubling 15.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s liveability index made note of several cities that have seen their liveability decline in part due to the troubling state of unrest experiences in their areas of the world.

Twenty cities, or 14 per cent of the 140 that were surveyed, have seen changes to their liveability scores over the past 12 months, with instability being called a “key factor” in the declines. The survey cited political tensions in Ukraine for the downgrade of Kiev, Moscow and St. Petersburg, localized clashes for the decline of Bangkok and the Syrian conflict for the decline of Damascus.

“Over five years 82 of the 140 cities surveyed have seen some change in overall liveability scores. Of these cities, 51 have seen declines in liveability. Three cities in particular, Kiev, Tripoli and Damascus, have seen significant declines of 17.8, 18.1 and 28.3 respectively, illustrating that conflict is, unsurprisingly, the key factor in undermining wider liveability,” the report notes.

The scores of top tier cities, however, have remained unaffected by the international troubles, as they are found in countries unaffected by unrest, notably Canada and Australia.

“There does appear to be a correlation between the types of cities that sit right at the very top of the ranking,” the report notes. “Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density…. Eight of the top ten scoring cities are in Australia and Canada.”

Scores are calculated by rating a city’s relative comfort in 30 topics, split between the five major categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Melbourne scored a near-perfect 97.5 per cent overall rating, with Vienna falling just behind with 97.4 per cent.

Vancouver received an overall score of 97.3 per cent with perfect scores in healthcare, culture and environment, and education. Toronto received an overall score of 97.2 per cent and perfect scores in stability, healthcare and education. Of the top 10 cities in the world, Toronto scored the lowest in infrastructure with a ranting of 89.3 per cent.

Calgary tied with Adelaide for fifth placed on the list, with a score of 96.6 per cent. The city received perfect scores in stability, healthcare and education, but was dragged down by a moderate 89.1 per cent score in culture and environment.