The latest rankings from the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual survey of the world’s most liveable cities has been released, and Manchester has excelled.
This year’s EIU Global Liveability Index, which assesses locations around the world on a broad range of issues that affect quality of life, has pinned Austrian capital Vienna as the top place in the world to live, knocking Melbourne in Australia off the top spot.
Of the 140 countries, though, Manchester was the standout city after shooting up the rankings by 16 places compared to 2017’s survey to take 35th place overall – which is 13 places ahead of London‘s ranking in 48th position. Manchester scored the highest out of anywhere in the UK, with stability, healthcare, culture and environment and infrastructure all being taken into consideration.
Regional trend for resilience
Part of this rapid rise has been put down to the “resilience in the face of adversity” shown by Manchester after last year’s high-profile terror attack at the Manchester Arena.
The survey’s editor, Roxana Slavcheva, commented: “An improved security score has meant that Manchester has pulled further ahead in the liveability index, leading London by a record 13 places and 2.2%.
“What is more, Manchester also represents a regional trend over the past year, where there have been notable improvements in security in several western European cities which have shown resilience in their recovery from terrorist attacks. It remains to be seen whether the impact of Brexit will have consequences for the two UK cities in the ranking.”
Global rankings
Despite not making it to the top spot, Australia and Canada both fared particularly well in the listing, with Melbourne coming in second place, Sydney in fifth position and Adelaide achieving 10th place for Australia. In Canada, Calgary took fourth place, Vancouver came in sixth and Toronto took eighth position.
Closer to home, Copenhagen in Denmark was the only other European city aside from Vienna to appear in the top 10, coming in ninth position.
