Melbourne puts lockdowns behind it as The Economist ranks it in the world’s top 10 most liveable cities

Victorians might have been in long lockdowns during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic over the past two years, but the Economist Intelligence Unit is giving them a good reason to smirk like a Cheshire cat.

Melbourne is the only Australian city to be in the top 10 of the most liveable cities in the world for 2022, according to the EIU’s annual ratings, and it has scored highly across a range of indicators such as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, and education.

Topping the annual list of liveable cities for 2022 is Vienna, Austria, followed by Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Swiss city of Zurich claims the third spot and Canada’s Calgary comes in fourth.

Most of the top 10 cities are from continental Europe or Canada, with Melbourne and Osaka, Japan, the only two cities managing to creep into the top 10 outside of those two prominent zones.

The EIU report says that rankings over the past few years have been impacted by the COVID-19 phenomenon.

“For the past two years, EIU’s global liveability rankings have been largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, with lockdowns and social distancing measures affecting scores for culture, education and healthcare in cities across the world,” the report said.

“However, in our most recent survey, the index has normalised, as restrictions have been lifted in many countries.”

Vienna, according to the report, is one of the beneficiaries in this year’s rankings as a result of pandemic restrictions loosening up.

“Vienna, which slipped to 12th place in our rankings in early 2021 as its museums and restaurants were closed, has since rebounded to first place, the position it held in 2018 and 2019,” the report says.

Melbourne might have cause for celebration but other cities in Australia dropped rankings.

Brisbanites now live in a city ranked 27 — a drop in the ranking of 17 — and Adelaide’s residents camp in a town that now ranks 30.

People living in Perth, Western Australia, now live in a city ranked 32 in the world for liveability — a drop of 26 places.

This article was first published by The Mandarin.