Vienna is the most liveable city in the world! The Austrian capital tops the global EIU survey, taking the crown from seven-year champion Melbourne.

Austria? Australia? It’s all the same, not just to many English-speakers, but also to the analysts of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). No fewer than three Australian cities (Melbourne, Sidney, Adelaide) and one Austrian city rank in the Top 10 of this year’s Global Liveability Index. Vienna, of course, takes this year’s No. 1, thank you very much!

A long-running contender for the title, Vienna reached an overall score of 99.1 on the liveability index, toppling Melbourne which had earned the No. 1 spot for seven consecutive years since 2011. “In addition to the generally improved security outlook for western Europe, Vienna benefited from its low crime rate,” the survey’s editor, Roxana Slavcheva, said. “It’s proven to be one of the safest cities in Europe.”

Of course, the internet had also plenty to say about this change of guard at the top of the illustrious list – and took the ranking with the required grain of salt.

Viennese, Austrians and those having the city close to their hearts celebrated the nomination in style.

“Nothing to moan about,” tweeted the Austrian journalist Barbara Tóth in a reference to the Viennese’s penchant for complaining. The Austrian satirical website Die Tagespresse mocked the repeated attempts of tabloids like the Kronen Zeitung (die Krone) – and some members of the Austrian government – to portray Vienna as dangerous and in constant decline.

In the meantime, the city of Melbourne proved to be a gracious runner-up and congratulated Vienna to its first place this year.

While officials of the city of Vienna decided to communicate in a matter-of-factly and decidedly Austrian way.

And Melbournites started to speculate about the cause of their city’s dethronement.

… while others were critical of the shuffle, tongue firmly in cheek.

Some social and political commentary could of course also not go missing.

And there are certainly those who will never be satisfied (sort of) …

Nonetheless, the EIU liveability index should be taken with a grain of salt; quality of life is, of course, a matter of perspective.

And in traditional Viennese fashion, there’s no glossing over things half-heartedly:

Perhaps for those who need more convincing that the grass is greener, and the Danube water is bluer, on the other side, here’s a three minute video that dares to catch the  stunning beauty of the city:

Or the oddball Twitter post that finds its way into every conversation, that in this case may just perhaps be the picture that encapsulates the brash reality of life in the city on some days:

 

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