This European City Was Named the Best Place to Live in the World
It's official, the best city to live in is Vienna, Austria. This is according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2023 Global Liveability Index, which publishes a yearly report analyzing cities around the world to determine which are the most livable.
To come up with the top 100 most livable cities, the report examines over 30 factors divided into five major categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Vienna has nabbed the top spot in eight out of the past 10 surveys due to its "winning combination" of those characteristics, most notably culture and entertainment.
In fact, the primary reason Austrian capital slipped down in the rankings in 2021 was due to pandemic restrictions forcing many of the city's famous museums and restaurants to close their doors. However, the return to normalcy helped Vienna regain its position as the world's most livable city.
"The city continues to offer an unsurpassed combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education and healthcare services, and plenty of culture and entertainment, with one of its few downsides being a relative lack of major sporting events," the report states, noting that the same is true of Copenhagen, Denmark, which one again fell just behind in second place.
The shift in COVID restrictions also helped the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney to climb back up the rankings to third and fourth place, which suffered for the same pandemic-related reasons in 2022. The rest of the top ten, which you can view below, is dominated by Canada, Switzerland, and Japan.
Vienna, Austria
Copenhagen, Denmark
Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Vancouver, Canada
Zurich, Switzerland
Calgary, Canada
Geneva, Switzerland
Toronto, Canada
Osaka, Japan / Auckland, New Zealand (tie)
