在英国经济学人资讯社（Economist Intelligence Unit）今年组织的调查中，澳大利亚的墨尔本在“全球最适合人类居住的城市”排行榜上蝉联第一，击败了排在二、三两位的维也纳和温哥华，也击败了包括悉尼、阿德莱德和珀斯在内的澳大利亚其它城市。
全球前10大宜居城市的整体排名大致维持未变，澳大利亚和加拿大的城市继续称霸榜单。加拿大的三个城市温哥华、多伦多和卡尔加里排在亚军维也纳之后，分列三、四、五三名。这一成绩和去年持平。
阿德莱德上升三个位次至第五名，排名超过跌至第七名的悉尼。赫尔辛基、珀斯和奥克兰也杀进前10。
这项年度调查会给全球140个城市进行排名，决定排名高低的因素包括：政治和社会稳定、犯罪率、医疗保健、教育、基础设施、文化活动和自然环境的标准。澳大利亚进入排名前10的三个城市在医疗保健、基础设施和教育这三项指标上获得了满分100分。
墨尔本的总计得分为97.5分。该市未能获得满分的原因是气候和文化存在不尽人意的地方，同时轻度犯罪现象较多。尽管如此，墨尔本还是有很多地方值得自豪：经济蓬勃发展，餐馆和咖啡馆众多，同时也是澳大利亚出名的体育赛事中心（引以为豪的知名赛事包括大型板球和F1大赛）。这是墨尔本连续第二年获得总分排名第一。
在亚洲的中心城市里，排名最高的城市都在日本，其中排第12位的大阪以及排第18位的东京遥遥领先。
与此同时，排在第31位的香港可能会觉得自己受到了轻视。就在几周前，《经济学人》杂志曾在读者中进行了一次最佳城市排名标准竞赛，最终胜出的排名标准由建筑师菲利波•洛瓦托（Filippo Lovato）提出，他在自己挑选的70个候选城市中将香港列为首位，不过他没有将墨尔本、维也纳和温哥华纳入候选宜居城市名单。
负责此次调查的编辑柯普斯德克（Jon Copestake）在一份声明中说，亚洲是一个分化非常严重的地区。他指出，香港和排名52位的新加坡是该地区的得分领先的城市，这两个城市的得分均超过88，而中国内地城市的得分也在慢慢提高。不过柯普斯德克也指出，亚洲欠发达国家仍然拥有大量不适宜居住的城市，这些城市既不安全，又很贫穷。
这些城市的代表有：科伦坡（排133位）、卡拉奇（排135位）和达卡（排140位）。作为孟加拉国的首都，达卡的得分仅有38.7，排名垫底。
Melbourne held onto its title of world's most livable city in this year's Economist Intelligence Unit survey, beating runners-up Vienna and Vancouver, as well as fellow Australian cities Sydney, Adelaide and Perth.
The overall pecking order of the top 10 was virtually unchanged, with Australia and Canada continuing to dominate the list. After second-place Vienna, Canada's trio of Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary came in third, fourth and fifth, respectively the same places they held last year.
Adelaide moved up three spots to fifth place, surpassing Sydney, which fell to seventh. Helsinki, Perth and Auckland rounded out the top 10.
The annual study ranks 140 cities according to political and social stability, crime rates, health care, education, infrastructure, and standard of cultural events and natural environment. All three of the Australian cities scored a perfect 100 for their healthcare, infrastructure and education.
Overall, Melbourne had a cumulative score of 97.5, losing a few points because of climate, petty crime and culture. Still, the city boasts a booming economy, a thriving restaurant and cafe scene and is known as the Australian hub for sports, boasting major cricket and F1 racing events. It's the second year in a row the city has claimed the top ranking.
Among Asian urban centers, the top cities were in Japan, with Osaka (12th) and Tokyo (18th) leading the continent.
Meanwhile, Hong Kongers may feel slighted with their No. 31 ranking. Just a few weeks ago, it was given the accolade as the top city in a contest that asked Economist readers to submit their own criteria to rank cities. The winning entry, by architect Filippo Lovato, put Hong Kong No. 1, though he didn't include Melbourne, Vienna and Vancouver, among others, in his survey of 70 cities.
Asia is very much a two-tiered region, Jon Copestake, editor of the survey, said in a statement, pointing out Hong Kong and Singapore (52nd) as leading cities in the region, with scores over 88, while Chinese metropolises are slowly moving up the scale. But Asia's less-developed countries still are home to the least secure and poorest locations for livability, he said.
Case in point: Colombo (133rd), Karachi (135th) and Dhaka (140th). The capital of Bangladesh scored a paltry 38.7, coming in last.
