Does it come as a surprise to hear Australia currently dominates the top ten most liveable cities in the world? According to the latest index by The Economist Intelligence Unit, 4 Australian cities rank in the top 10 – Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. The Economist Intelligence Unit survey ranked 140 cities on 30 indicators – major categories include stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Just in case you were wondering, Vancouver, host of the 2010 Winter Olympics this month topped the annual survey. Not sure why Canberra, Brisbane, Darwin and Hobart didn’t meet the grade. I’m sure they would beg to differ! Let’s hope we have the foresight to plan our cities around environmental factors that will continue to see us ranked highly on these lists for years to come. We can always pull up our socks a bit higher!

 The Top ten cities were: 1. Vancouver 2. Vienna 3. Melbourne 4. Toronto 5. Calgary 6. Helsinki 7. Sydney 8. Perth 9. Adelaide 10. Auckland