Olympics host Vancouver ranked world's most liveable city

In the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver scored 98 percent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure -- a score unchanged from last year.

The city has also topped the index since at least 2007.

In the 2010 ranking, there was little change in the top positions with Vienna, Melbourne and Toronto still taking the second, third and fourth positions and the top 10 dominated by Canadian and Australian cities which took seven of the 10 slots.

Johannesburg, which is hosting the soccer World Cup finals in June, came in 92nd place, the highest score in sub-Saharan Africa.

Vancouver scores well across all categories in the survey and the forthcoming Winter Games contribute to a strong score in the cultural and sporting events category, said Jon Copestake, editor of the report, in a statement.

Johannesburg has had well-documented crime problems, but performs better in other categories, with the highest overall livability rating in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Economist Intelligence Unit survey ranked 140 cities on 30 factors such as healthcare, culture and environment, and education and personal safety, using research involving resident experts and its own analysts.

It said in a statement that these rankings were used by employers assigning hardship allowances as part of expatriate relocation packages.

New York was ranked 56th, two slots behind London which was at number 54, while Los Angeles ranked at number 47.

Zimbabwe's capital Harare scored the least, making it the list's worst city, with a rating of 37.5.

Following is a list of the top 10 most liveable cities as ranked by The Economist:

1. Vancouver, Canada

2. Vienna, Austria

3. Melbourne, Australia

4. Toronto, Canada

5. Calgary, Canada

6. Helsinki, Finland

7. Sydney, Australia

8. Perth, Australia