AUSSIE CITIES AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD

MELBOURNE, June 10 (Bernama) -- Australian cities occupy five of the top 20
places in a British survey ranking the liveability of 140 of the world's major
centres.

Melbourne ranked third in the world, behind Vancouver in Canada and the
Austrian city of Vienna in the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2009 Liveability
survey.

It assessed 140 cities based on stability, health care, education,
infrastructure and culture and environment, giving each one a rating out of
100.

Perth was equal fifth with Calgary in Canada, with Sydney sharing ninth
place with Zurich in Switzerland, Adelaide in 11th place and Brisbane 16th on
the list.

The New Zealand cities of Auckland and Wellington finished 12th and 23rd
respectively.

The highest-ranked Asian city was Osaka in Japan (13th), followed by
Hongkong (equal 39th with Madrid, Spain), then Singapore (54th) and Seoul, South
Korea (58th).
-- BERNAMA