Top of the world: Vancouver named Earth's 'most liveable' city - for the fifth year running



Vancouver has been named the world's 'most liveable' city for the fifth year running.



Melbourne came in second place in the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, with Vienna third, Toronto fourth and Calgary fifth.

Seven of the top ten cities come from Australia and Canada.



Perched on the west coast of Canada, Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics. It scored 98 per cent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.



Top dog: Canada has topped the global poll for the last five years

It has topped the list every year since 2007.



'Vancouver remains at the top of the ranking, a position that can only have been cemented by the successful hosting of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which provided a boost to the infrastructure and culture and environment categories,' the report summary said.

'Only petty crime presents any difficulties for Vancouver, although this would be a shortfall of any such location,' it said.



London moved up one place to 53rd while Paris came in at number 16.

Pittsburgh was the top US city with 29th place -- just ahead of Honolulu -- while Los Angeles moved up three places to 44th and New York held onto 56th spot.



Better than London or New York: The Japanese city of Osaka is the top-ranked Asian city in 29th place

The top Asian city was the Japanese city of Osaka at number 12, tying with Geneva, and beating the Japanese capital of Tokyo, which was placed 18th.



Hong Kong came in at 31, while Beijing, capital of the world's most populous nation and the second biggest economy, made a poor showing at number 72.



At the other end of the list, African and Asian nations subsumed in political turmoil, poverty and war made up the bottom of the survey's rankings.



'Conflict is responsible for many of the poorest performing scores,' the report said, pointing to issues such as violence, crime, civil insurgency and war.

There was also little change at the bottom, with Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, once again claiming the worst position.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey ranks cities based on 30 factors including healthcare, culture and environment, and education and personal safety.

'Mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion,' said Jon Copestake, editor of the report.



THE TOP TEN BEST CITIES

1 Vancouver, Canada

2 Melbourne, Australia

3 Vienna, Austria 4 Toronto, Canada

5 Calgary, Canada

6 Helsinki, Finland 7 Sydney, Australia 8 Perth, Australia 8 Adelaide, Australia 10 Auckland, New Zealand

...AND THE WORST

1 Harare, Zimbabwe 2 Dhaka, Bangladesh 3 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 4 Lagos, Nigeria 5 Algiers, Algeria 6 Karachi, Pakistan 7 Douala, Cameroon 8 Tehran, Iran 9 Dakar, Senegal 10 Colombo, Sri Lanka



