MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Vancouver, Canada chosen as the most liveable city in the world

Metropolitan Vancouver with a population of over 2.5 million is British Columbia and Western Canada largest city.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) announced Monday that Vancouver, British Columbia is the best city in the world to live, followed by Vienna, Austria and Melbourne, Australia.

The EIU -- the business arm of the U.K.-based weekly economics magazine -- ranked the living conditions of 140 cities around the world based on five broad categories; stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

With a rating of 98 out of 100, with one being “intolerable” and 100 being “ideal”, Vancouver topped the charts, “benefiting from strong Canadian infrastructure,” according to the study's authors.

Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, was ranked the worst city in the world to live because of the “unfolding crisis.”

Two other Canadian cities, Toronto and Calgary, ranked in the top 10.

Toronto ranked fourth, followed by Perth, Calgary, Helsinki, and Geneva. Zurich and Sydney tied for ninth.

The study's authors say the cities with the best scores usually tend to be mid-sized, are in developed countries with a low population density, and benefit from cultural or recreational availability.

These cities experience lower crime levels or infrastructure problems that can be caused by large populations.

EIU says the world's worst cities to live in tend to be those in Africa and Asia with civil instability, poor infrastructure, and the threat of violence.

Out of the 140 cities ranked, 64 achieved scores of over 80 per cent, while 13 scored below 50 per cent.