For the sixth consecutive year Melbourne has been named the world’s “most liveable city” but terrorism, police shootings and geopolitical tensions have resulted in a drop in overall living standards throughout the World. Many countries have been affected by violent acts of terrorism which have increased in frequency over larger geographical areas over the last year. So far, there have been more than 1,000 terrorists attacks, with the attacks in France and Belgium being the most widely reported on.
The Economists Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2016 Liveability Report assesses global living conditions to determine the best and worst of 140 cities. The survey takes into account infrastructure, environment, education, culture, healthcare and stability. The survey Melbourne number one (with a score of 97.5 out of 100), ahead of the Austrian capital, Vienna in second place with Vancouver and Toronto in Canada coming in third.
The cities ranked highly in the report tended to be in wealthy nations with an overall low population density.
Five of the major cities in the United States have dropped in their rankings this year as a result of social unrest in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland. Reports of frequent mass shootings and deaths in police custody have been the main contributing factors to the decline in ratings.
Ranked the bottom three on the list were Damascus, the capital city of Syria, the Tripoli in Libya and Lagos in Nigeria.
Jon Copestake, the editor of the report, told reporters “The latest rankings paint a very sombre picture.
“The fact that one in five cities has seen its liveability score decline reflects a worrying backdrop and one that is depressingly familiar given that similar declines were reported last year.
“What is interesting is that it is not just the threat of terrorism that is lowering stability. The last few years have seen an intensification of protests, and border disputes as well as the ongoing armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.”