Vancouver ranks among the most livable cities in the world, according to a new report.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has released the results of a survey of 172 cities around the world in its annual Global Liveability Ranking.
This year the ranking includes 33 new cities, with one-third of them in China.
"Many of the new entrants, such as Surabaya (Indonesia) and Chongqing (China), are already fast-growing business destinations," notes the report.
The EIU assigns a rating to each city based on "relative comfort" in 30 factors across five broad categories including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Each factor in a city is rated as "acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable."
After slipping to 12th in the 2021 ranking, Vienna, Austria claimed the top spot (it placed at the top of the list in 2018 and 2019). With perfect scores for its stability, good infrastructure, education and good healthcare, the report authors note that the city has "plenty of opportunities for culture and entertainment," too.
Denmark's capital Copenhagen followed Vienna, with perfect or near-perfect scores by all metrics. Similarly, Zurich, Switzerland — tied for third-highest ranked city — was rated in the high 90s for all categories except for a perfect score in healthcare.
Vancouver news: City ranks fifth in the world for livability
Calgary was the highest-ranked Canadian city, rising from 18th in 2021 to tie Zurich for third this year. It received perfect scores in three metrics: healthcare, education, and infrastructure.
Vancouver placed just behind in fifth, with perfect scores in healthcare, culture and environment, and education as well as scores in the 90s for the other metrics (though just barely with a 90 in stability).
Toronto was the third Canadian city to appear in the top 10, ranking eighth overall. Ontario's biggest city received perfect scores in healthcare and education, with most other metrics scored in the 90s.
Western European and Canadian cities dominate the top of the rankings, but Osaka, Japan and Melbourne, Australia rounded up the top 10, placing ninth and tenth, respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, living conditions remain the worst in Syria's capital city, Damascus. Tripoli in Libya, Lagos in Nigeria and Algiers in Algeria, continue to score low across the five categories, also ranking in the bottom 10.
