For the fifth year running, Vancouver has been named the world's most livable city.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its annual ranking on Monday, and B.C.'s largest city topped the list, with two more Canadian cities rounding out the top 10.
"[Vancouver's position] can only have been cemented by the successful hosting of the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, which provided a boost to the infrastructure and culture and environment categories," the EIU said.
"Only petty crime presents any difficulties for Vancouver, although this would be a typical shortfall of any such location."
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, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
The study's authors say that the ranking is met to represent livability scores "based on challenges to lifestyle beyond those presented by income or cost-of-living considerations."
Vancouver received an overall score of 98 out of 100. The study's authors pointed out that while the city's murder rate of 2.6 homicides per 100,000 people is well above the national average of 1.8, it is still comparable to "innocuous" cities in places like New Zealand and much lower than New York City's rate of 6.3.
Melbourne, Australia was rated as the second most livable city, followed by Vienna, Toronto and Calgary.
Zimbabwe's capital city, Harare, was ranked once again as the least livable city, scoring only 37.5 points in what the EIU described as a "bleak situation." All of the bottom 10 cities are located in Asia and Africa.
Have your say: Is Vancouver the most livable city in the world?
