Austrian capital Vienna returns as most livable city
The Austrian capital Vienna has made a comeback as the world’s most livable city, according to an annual report from The Economist published Thursday.
The Ukrainian capital Kiev was not included after Russia started a special military operation in Ukraine in late February, while Russian cities Moscow and St Petersburg fell in the rankings.
Vienna snatched the top spot from Auckland, which tumbled down to 34th place due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, according to the report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Europe boasted six out of the top 10 cities. Vienna was followed by the Danish capital Copenhagen and Switzerland’s Zurich. Fellow Swiss city Geneva came sixth, Germany’s Frankfurt seventh, and the Netherlands’ Amsterdam ninth.
Canada also did well. Calgary came in joint third position, followed by Vancouver in fifth place and Toronto in eighth.
Japan’s Osaka and Australia’s Melbourne shared the 10th place.
France’s capital Paris came 19th, 23 places up from 2021.
The Belgian capital Brussels was 24th, just behind Canada’s Montreal.
The United Kingdom’s capital London was the world’s 33rd most livable city, while Spain’s Barcelona and Madrid came 35th and 43rd respectively.
Italy’s Milan ranked No.49, the US city of New York 51st, and Chinese capital Beijing came 71st.
Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which was ravaged by a 2020 port explosion and is battling a crippling financial crisis, was not included in the ranking of business destinations.
Neither was the Ukrainian capital Kiev, after the Russia-Ukraine conflict forced the EIU to abort its survey of the city. Russia’s capital Moscow saw its livability ranking fall by 15 places, while St Petersburg slipped by 13 places. Other cities in eastern Europe were considered less stable following “raised diplomatic tensions” due to the war in Ukraine.
The capital of war-torn Syria, Damascus, retained its place as least livable city on the planet.
