File Photo Lehtikuva.
Helsinki has been ranked eighth on the list of best liveable cities among 140 cities across the world this year, according to the Global Liveability Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Australia’s Melbourne has retained its status as the world’s most liveable city for the fourth consecutive year, the media reported based on the index published on Tuesday.
Austrian capital Vienna secured the second position on the list, followed by Vancouver (Canada), Toronto (Canada), Adelaide (Australia), Calgary (Canada), Sydney (Australia), Helsinki (Finland), Perth (Australia), and Auckland (New Zealand).
Damascus in war-torn Syria is at the bottom of the list, followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Lagos (Nigeria), Karachi (Pakistan), Algiers (Algeria), Harare (Zimbabwe), Douala (Cameroon), Tripoli (Libya) and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) as least liveable cities .
File Photo Lehtikuva.
The ranking, which provides scores for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities worldwide, shows that since 2009 average liveability across the world has fallen by 0.7%, led by a 1.3% fall in the score for stability and safety, said the report.
Recent conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have underlined continuing fallout from a decade of destabilising events ranging from the war in Iraq to the Palestinian Intifada and the Arab Spring, said the report.
Earlier, in February this year, Helsinki was ranked as the second best European city from the aspect of Foreign Direct Investment, according to a report by the British business daily Financial Times.
Helsinki emerged as a new entry among the Top 25 European cities, ranking second best overall behind London which topped the list.
The Financial Times published its “European Cities and Region of the Future” report which measures the attractiveness of different regions and cities to direct and foreign investment.
