BC Business
10. Auckland, New Zealand | ChewyPineapple/Wikimedia
9. Perth, Australia | JJ Harrison/Wikimedia
8. Helsinki, Finland | Axilera/Wikimedia
7. Sydney, Australia | Adam.J.W.C./Wikimedia
5. Adelaide, Australia (tied)
5. Calgary (tied) | Greenwood714/Wikimedia
4. Toronto | Benson Kua/Flickr
3. Vancouver | Magnus Larsson/Flickr
2. Vienna, Austria | Fabian Lackner/Wikimedia
1. Melbourne, Australia | Donaldytong/Wikimedia
Three is turning into a lucky number for Vancouver, at least when it comes to The Economist’s annual ranking of the world’s cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability index.
While Vancouver hasn’t been at the top since 2011, for the third year in a row it’s retained an impressive third-place position. In fact, the entire list has remained unchanged since 2012.
According to The Economist, the magazine assess “which locations around the world provide the best and worst living conditions” and each city is “given a rating of relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure.”
For five heady years, from 2007 to 2011, the much-quoted 140-city index vaulted Vancouver to the top position, right in time for the lead-up to the 2010 Olympics.
Toronto and Calgary, Canada’s other two representatives in the top ten, stayed constant, at fourth and fifth place respectively.
For the last four years, Australia and Canada have dominated the top 10, with seven cities between them. Unsurprisingly, war-torn Damascus, the devastated Syrian capital, retained its position at the bottom of the list.
Click through the gallery above for photos of the top 10. Below, we compare this year’s list with 2011’s—the last time it changed.