City life broadly improved last year, with the biggest gains found in eastern Europe. That’s according to the latest Global Liveability Index, which crowned Vienna (pictured) the world’s most liveable city for the third year running.
Compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the index assesses 173 cities across five categories: stability, education, healthcare, culture and environment, and infrastructure.
Europe dominated the top 10, with Copenhagen (main picture) and Zurich coming second and third respectively. London ranked 45th, while Honolulu, in 23rd place, was the highest US city on the list. The index noted an overall decline in stability and infrastructure, but said this was offset by improvements in healthcare and education in several cities in developing markets.
Western Europe retained its status as the most liveable region, while eastern Europe recorded the biggest score increase. While the overall index rise slightly, the EIU noted that “the improvement is only marginal, held back by geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest and a housing crisis across many of the cities in our survey”.
Image: Leyre
