London, England (Economist Intelligence Unit) – The annual Economist liveability survey of 140 cities worldwide ranks Vancouver in first place with an almost perfect 98 score out of 100. There are four European cities among the top 10. Vienna is in second place, Helsinki in seventh, just ahead of eighth-tied Geneva, Sydney and Zurich.

The “least desireable” city in the world to live in is Harare, Zimbabwe, due to “the unfolding political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe”, says the Economist, which published results 8 June. The survey by the Economist‘s sister publication, dated February 2009, ranks five categories – stability, health care, culture and environment, education,  and infrastructure – and tries to quantify the difficulties of living in a city based on these criteria. Civil strife and poor infrastructure score against a city.