Top 10 most livable cities in the world

Looking to move? Australia and Canada might be your best bets.

That's the overwhelming conclusion of the Economist Intelligence Unit's annual report on the most livable cities in the world.

The Economist Intelligence Unit has been ranking the livability of cities for about a decade and every year sees Vancouver at the top of the list. That's not the case this year, with Melbourne, Australia taking over the top spot. Nonetheless, it's Canadian and Australian cities that are rising to the top of this annual ranking of the cities with the best and worst living conditions.

Here are the top 10 most livable cities in the world:

1. Melbourne, Australia

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Vancouver, Canada

4. Toronto, Canada

5. Calgary, Canada

6. Sydney, Australia

7. Helsinki, Finland

8. Perth, Australia

9. Adelaide, Australia

10. Auckland, New Zealand

What exactly constitutes livability you ask? There are plenty of different meanings for the word, but for the Economist Intelligence Unit here are the factors that determine a livable city:

1. Stability: prevalence of crime, threat of conflict (military or otherwise), etc. (25 percent of score)

2. Healthcare: availability and quality (20 percent of score)

3. Culture and environment: social freedoms, availability of amenities, and climate (25 percent of score)

4. Education: availability and quality (10 percent of score)

5. Infrastructure: quality of transit, roads, water, energy, and telecommunication and availability of good housing (20 percent of score)

As with any ranking system a slight tweak in how different qualities are scored and weighed can drastically change the outcome. So do you agree with this definition of livability?

Photo: mugley/Flickr

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com