09 June 2009

Life in Australia ranked highly in the world

Five Australian cities have been ranked in the top 20 places in a British survey assessing the liveability of 140 of the world's major cities.

Life in Australia has been given two thumbs up for its stability, health care, education, infrastructure, and culture and environment in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2009 Liveability Survey. 

The highest ranking Australia city was Melbourne at third place in the world, behind Vancouver in Canada and the Austrian city of Vienna.

Perth was equal fifth with Calgary, Canada, with Sydney sharing ninth place with Zurich, Switzerland, followed by Adelaide in 11th place and Brisbane 16th on the list.

The quality of life in the New Zealand cities of Auckland and Wellington is also high, with the cities finishing 12th and 23rd respectively.
US centres were well down the list and the highest-ranked Asian city was Osaka in Japan in 13th place.

The conflict-torn capital of Zimbabwe, Harare, was the worst city to live on.

"Australian cities represent many of the best aspects of liveability, while instability in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh means that cities in South Asia fare much worse,” Economist Intelligence Unit spokesman Jon Copestake said.

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