Osaka, Tokyo in top 10 of world’s most livable cities

September 5, 2019

London--Osaka and Tokyo, both in Japan, appeared in the top 10 of the world's most livable cities, according to a list released by the Economist Intelligence Unit Wednesday.

Osaka was ranked fourth in the Global Liveability Index that covered 140 cities, while Tokyo came tied for seventh. Vienna, Austria, topped the list, followed by Melbourne and Sydney, both in Australia.

"Our index remains dominated by medium-sized cities in wealthy countries," the Economist Intelligence Unit said.

"These cities have well-funded public health care systems, compulsory and high-quality education, and functional road and rail infrastructure," it said.

"The presence of Tokyo in the top 10 demonstrates that it is possible to scale up these characteristics, but maintaining these levels of performance in cities with two, three or four times as many people is challenging, especially when such cities also tend to be greater magnets for crime and terrorism," it said.

Syria's Damascus was at the bottom of the rankings.

Tokyo was ranked the world's safest city by the Economist Intelligence Unit last month, while Osaka was placed third. Jiji Press