Three European cities are in the top ten of “the most livable cities in the world,” an index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

These are Vienna (2), Helsinki (9), and Hamburg (10).

Qualitative aspects of the index are largely perception based, with international analysts ranking each city as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable.

For a number of variables, local analysts are engaged.

The Global Liveability report ranks 140 cities around the world, taking...