The Economist’s annual rankings of the world’s “most livable” cities is a combination of old news and new news.
Like last year, cities in the same two countries, Australia and Canada, dominate the top 10 positions in the The Economist Intelligence Unit’s global rankings for 2015.
The ranking provides scores for what The Economist calls “lifestyle challenges” in 140 cities worldwide. The overall scores reflect how cities are rated across five main categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
The cities in the top five positions this year, with overall scores ranging from 97.5 (Melbourne) to 96.6 (Adelaide and Calgary), are:
- Melbourne, Australia
- Vienna
- Vancouver, British Columbia
- Toronto
- Adelaide, Australia
- Calgary, Alberta
But this year’s rankings also reflect “a marked increase in global instability over the last 12 months,” The Economist reports.
It says that since 2010, average livability has fallen by 1 percent across the world. That includes a 2.2 percent slip in the score for stability and safety.
The Economist cites terrorist shootings in France and Tunisia; ongoing conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Libya; and civil unrest in the United States.
Only one U.S. city made the top 30: Honolulu, which earned an overall score of 94.1.
The U.S. cities that made the top 40, with scores ranging from 94.1 (Honolulu) to 89.6 (Cleveland and Minneapolis), are:
- Honolulu (No. 19)
- Washington, D.C. (tie with Barcelona, Spain, for No. 31)
- Atlanta (three-way tie with Dusseldorf, Germany, and Chicago for No. 33)
- Chicago (three-way tie with Dusseldorf, Germany, and Atlanta for No. 33)
- Boston (No. 36)
- Miami (No. 37)
- Pittsburgh (No. 39)
- Cleveland (tie with Minneapolis for No. 40)
- Minneapolis (tie with Cleveland for No. 40)
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