Melbourne may no longer be the world’s most ‘liveable’ city, but it has earned itself a brand new title.
UK insurance company William Russell named Melbourne the world’s ‘friendliest’ city after analysing data from “23 of the most visited cities around the world”.
It took five key factors into account: Resident happiness, safety, LGBTQI+ inclusivity, tourist attractions and hotel ratings.
From that, it concluded that Melbourne had a ‘friendly city score’ of 6.06.
The study credited Melbourne for being the “capital of cool”, where residents are “known for their friendliness”.
It also applauded Melbourne for being “forward thinking” and a “fully open, inclusive and competitive city”.
Residents’ quality of life played a big role in its top spot, it said, with Melbourne achieving a quality of life score of 7.296 out of 10.
The study also mentioned the Queen Victoria Market, which it said was the city’s top attraction, according to online review platform Yelp.
Paris, the city of love, ranked in second place.
Despite the enduring stereotype that the French are rude to tourists, Paris scored 5.99 for friendliness, and 6.635 out of 10 for its happiness.
In third place was Vienna with a friendliness score of 5.91.
The study commended Austria’s capital for its safety, inclusivity and liveability.
Sydney, however, was nowhere to be found, to the joy of Melburnians.
Sydneysiders seemingly admitted that it wasn’t exactly the friendliest place to live in another survey earlier this year.
Time Out’s annual Index results ranked Sydney as the third-worst city in the world for making new friends back in July.
This was after 71 per cent of surveyed Sydney residents said the city was a hard place to socialise and make new mates.
But it’s not all doom and gloom for Sydney. The city ranked eighth in William Russell’s list of the safest cities in the world.
The insurance company also named Sydney the sixth happiest city in the world, two spots behind Melbourne.
It might be the first time Melbourne has been called the “capital of cool”, but it’s not the first time the city has been recognised for its friendliness.
Conde Nast Traveler, the UK’s leading travel magazine, called Melbourne the world’s friendliest city back in 2014, sharing the title with Auckland, New Zealand.
