5 Facts That Make Melbourne The World’s Most Liveable City

Melbourne, Australia is well-known and loved for many things, including coffee culture, its booming central business district (CBD), the inspiring arts and culture scene, European-inspired architecture, the scenic Yarra River, and much more besides. In this year's annual Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Global Liveability Index, Melbourne once more is ranked the world's most liveabile city for the fifth consecutive year. The assessment is based on the ratings of living conditions of 140 cities worldwide and across the five categories of: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure. While worldwide liveability scores fluctuate, Melbourne maintains the top score of 97.5% – its strong art culture, world class facilities and infrstructure and status as Australia's Coffee Capital make it an enduring contender.

That aside, here are five factors that make Melbourne worthy of their long-standing feat as the World's Most Liveable City that one could consider on their next trip there: 

Arts and Culture

The city's quantity of commercial art galleries, ranked one of the highest in the world, makes Melbourne a must-visit for art lovers from all over the world. Make a pitstop at the National Gallery of Victoria Ian Potter Centre to view the nation's largest permanent collection of Australian art. Put the Museum Victoria on the list too, just so you can witness the magnitude of the southern hemisphere's largest museum. If you fancy some music, the UNESCO City of Literature also hosts more than 3,000 live music events weekly for you to pick from.

Eating and drinking 

With more than 2,000 cafes and 3,000 restaurants, Melbourne has no qualms about hosting more than 178,320 hungry citizens at one point in time. Wine drinkers will feel right at home touring through some of the 850 wineries, and coffee lovers will be kept caffeinated from the city's capacity to supply 3 million cups daily. Melbourne is particularly worth a visit during the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, which sees more than 200 events taking place over a span of two weeks!

Wildlife

Although the state of Victoria comprises just 3% of Australia's landmass, 30% of Australia's native animals, including the mammal species of kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, possums, wombats, platypus and more have found a place to call home. As for Victoria's parks, more than 4,300 native plants and animal species, including lizards, skunks, geckos, snakes and monitors continue building their habitat throughout these grounds. 

Sport

Yes, Melbourne also holds the title of Australia's Sports Capital, too. The city is the only one in the world with five international sporting facilities, and is the only city in the world to have hosted both the F1 Grand Prix and tennis Grand Slam tournament. Under its sports belt are also the Australian Open Tennis Championships, the Australian Grand Prix, and the Melbourne Cup Carnival, among others. Useful to know: Melbourne was also the birthplace of Australian football circa 1895. 

Festival City

Once again, Melbourne exudes 'been there, done that' with its capacity to host large, world-class festivities. This year, Melbourne entered its 30th year with the artistic-enriched Melbourne Festival, and had the honour of founding one of the world's top three comedy festivals, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. A typical turnout for the Melbourne International Jazz Festival saw more than 40,000 attendees throughout 100 events featuring 500 performing artists, and last but not least, the immensely popular White Night Melbourne outdoor arts festival, which transforms the city into a haven of art and light, pulled in a cool 1.3 million visitors in its first three years.

Now, is there any more reason for Melbourne to earn the honourable title?