The two cities have been neck and neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centres for years, with Melbourne clinching the title for the past seven editions.
Vienna has topped the Economist Intelligence Unit’s global liveability index, replacing Melbourne, which drops to second place.
The two cities have been neck and neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centres for years, with Melbourne clinching the title for the past seven editions.
At the other end of the table, Damascus retained last place, followed by the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and Lagos in Nigeria.
The survey does not include several of the world’s most dangerous capitals, such as Baghdad and Kabul.
Following on from Vienna and Melbourne, Osaka in Japan came third followed by Calgary in Canada, while Sydney is fifth.
The sixth spot was taken by Vancouver and there is a tie for seventh between Tokyo and Toronto.
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.
“One of the sub-categories that Vienna does really well in is the prevalence of petty crime ... It’s proven to be one of the safest cities in Europe,” she said.
In Asia, Hong Kong, whose ranking fell dramatically in 2015 due to heightened fears of unrest, has largely recovered and now comes in at 35th place, two spots ahead of Singapore.
Other ranking in Asia: Seoul (59), Kuala Lumpur (78), Shanghai (81), Manila (103), Hanoi (107), Jakarta (119) and Phnom Penh (125).