Melbourne ranks 2nd most liveable city in the world

The Australian city of Melbourne has once again been ranked as the second most liveable city in the world, following Austria's capital Vienna, according to a report on Wednesday.

The report by research group Economic Intelligence Unit gave Melbourne a score of 98.4 in the liveability index, remaining the same with last year and only 0.7 percent lower than Vienna.

The city achieved the highest culture and environment score among the world's top five most liveable cities.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said in a statement that such a high ranking was an extraordinary honour for a city amid significant population growth and major transportation system upgrade.

"We should all be incredibly proud of what Melbourne has already achieved, but of course there is more to do," Capp said.

"That's why the city of Melbourne is investing a record 166 million Australian dollars (US$112 million) this year to build a better community, including 28.2 million Australian dollars on transport projects to keep our city moving and 7.1 million Australian dollars on Melbourne's acclaimed parks and gardens."

The report also showed Sydney has moved from the fifth to the third in the list this year, while other major Australian cities, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane ranked 10th, 14th and 18th respectively.

According to the statement, the EIU Liveability Index is the world's most widely accepted ranking of liveability, comparing 140 of the world's major cities.