Auckland, New Zealand is on the Top 10 of World's Most Livable Cities
Auckland has once again emerged as one of the top 10 most livable cities in the world. The New Zealand city has ranked 10th among 140 cities. According to the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), Auckland has made it to the top 10 cities list for the 5th year in a row.
Australia's Melbourne is at the top of the list as the world's most livable city followed by Vienna (second) and Vancouver (third). Other Australian cities that are in the top 10 are Adelaide, Sydney and Perth.
Also Canada has three cities in the top 10 with Vancouver in third place, Toronto in fourth and Calgary in sixth place. Only two European cities, Vienna and Helsinki, made in the top 10 of world's most livable cities.
Wellington is the only other city in New Zealand that made it to the list. It was ranked 22nd out of 140 cities.
The latest report said that the cities that ranked high were "mid-sized cities in wealthier countries" with a low population density. The EIU said New Zealand has a population density of 16 people per square kilometre. The number is half of the US average density.
The EIU ranked 140 countries based on their stability, culture and environment, education, healthcare and infrastructure. Melbourne received the highest score with 97.5, while Auckland was less than two points behind with 95.7 points.
The EIU gave Auckland a perfect score of 100 in education but scored low in terms of healthcare with 95.7 points. For culture and environment, the city ranked second with 97 points. Its lowest score was from infrastructure.
When news broke out, Auckland Mayor Len Brown said that people should be proud of being one of the top most livable cities in the world. He said that Aucklanders should be proud to have their city rank in the top 10 for the 5th year in the row.
The Auckland mayor added that being number 10 still means that the city has still more work to do. Brown said that the city will begin working on essential infrastructure like the City Rail Link.
Top 10 of the World's Most Livable Cities:
1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Adelaide, Australia
6. Calgary, Canada
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand
The report said that the worst city to live in is Damascus in Syria because of the ongoing conflict and presence of Islamic militants.