[size=7]Melbourne named world's most liveable city again, Adelaide ranked fifth[/size]

Melbourne has been named the world's most liveable city for the fifth year in a row, achieving a near perfect score on the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) liveability survey of 140 cities.

The survey rated cities out of 100 in the areas of health care, education, stability, culture and environment and infrastructure.

Melbourne again achieved a score of 97.5, just two-and-a-half points shy of perfection.

Adelaide was ranked in fifth place again with an overall rating of 96.6.

"Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density," the EIU report said.

"These can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure."

Seven of the top 10 scoring cities were in Australia and Canada.

The report said civil unrest and acts of terror had triggered stability declines around the world including in France and Tunisia.

The "ongoing actions" of Islamic State had created a further heightened threat of terrorism in many countries.

The Syrian capital Damascus saw the biggest fall in liveability scores over a five-year period.

Zimbabwe's capital Harare was the most improved city in the EIU report.

Melbourne is Australia's fastest-growing capital and the only city in the world to have won the title five consecutive times.

International visits have increased by 8 per cent in that time.

While celebrating the ranking, the Victorian Government said it would "never be complacent", investing $20 billion in transport infrastructure and $5.4 billion in health and education to create a stronger economy.

"Melbourne has the best of everything and this title proves it," Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.

"Perfect scores in health care, education and infrastructure, culture, environment and sport are all proof there's no place like Victoria."

Melbourne Mayor Robert Doyle said he was "very proud" of the accolade.

"It is particularly pleasing in a year when the Economist Intelligence Unit notes that many cities lost ground," he said.

"We must be doing something right in our cities in this part of the world."

The Victorian Council of Social Service said Melbourne's top ranking failed to recognise the growing disparity between those who can afford to live where the services and jobs are and those who have to live in areas of high unemployment and poor transport.

"Perhaps the EIU should survey the growing number of people sleeping rough on Melbourne's streets about how liveable they find the city in the midst of winter," Emma King, VCOSS chief executive said.

"A growing body of evidence paints a starkly different picture of our community.

"Over the coming decade we need to fit millions more people into Victoria with the state's population set to boom.

"We cannot merely keep expanding Melbourne's fringe without increasing jobs, infrastructure and services there."

Folks say Lagos in Portugal is kinda special.

Lovely city, shame about all the Victorians though...

We da fifth best

Australian cities were found to be "a relative picture of stability", while 20 per cent of the cities surveyed by The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit experienced declines in liveability over the past year.

Melbourne was ranked the world's most liveable city, Adelaide fifth, Sydney seventh, Perth eighth and Brisbane 18th. None of these cities saw their ranks change in this year's report.

Wouldnt the most livable be the biggest city because that's where most people actually want to live?
Last I checked there's no wall around Sydney stopping people from leaving.

Wouldnt the most livable be the biggest city because that's where most people actually want to live?
Last I checked there's no wall around Sydney stopping people from leaving.

bloody hell how did perth get 8th. The infrastructure here is a nightmare and the culture is non existent. #getmeouttahere

Thats because it takes too fucking long to drive your way out.

Perth, Brisbane and Canberra are all growing fast. Adelaide has stagnated. How does it get 5th?

Lovely city, shame about all the Victorians though...

until we sort out our public transport issues and traffic could not give a rats ass about this its a great city but not perfect

less bogans than perth and brisbane. and canberra wtf?

Not to be a negative nelly but I just can't back the EIU each year on this when the list always appear to be so massively biased to English speaking countries. When it comes to things like Healthcare, Education, Infrastructure and Culture, cities like Copenhagen, Stockholm, Geneva, Vienna and Munich are on par or even superior to Australian cities.

I can only imagine they are losing points on silly stuff like "Discomfort of Climate to travellers."

Have lived in Melbourne and Sydney before and now live in Brisbane. Brisbane can get a bit dull but the climate is great and it really doesn't feel like a capital city, which is a positive for many. Also has the GC just down the road. Sydney is easily the best place to spend a weekend IMO and is still a pretty good place to live, but there is just something about Melbourne. It's hard to put in to words, but the vibe of the place is spot on and I certainly will move back in the future.

i do find it strange how well we do in these though.