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VIENNA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian capital Vienna replaced Melbourne to become the most pleasant city in which to live, according to a report published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Tuesday.

EIU has been publishing the global liveability index since 2004, which assesses liveabilities of about 140 cities all over the world through five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Melbourne has been at the top of the index over the past seven years until it was supplanted by Vienna this year while Damascus, Dhaka and Lagos occupied the bottom of the table.

Both cities got maximum points in the healthcare, education and infrastructure categories, but thanks to the improved stability, Vienna scored 99.1 out of 100 in overall rating while Melbourne scored 98.4.

Mid-sized cities with relatively low population density in wealthier countries tend to score higher, the report said.

On the contrary, the rankings of metropolises like New York (57th), London (48th) and Paris (19th) are plagued by higher levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems. "Global business centres tend to be victims of their own success," read the report.

Behind Vienna and Melbourne, Osaka, Calgary, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Tokyo, Copenhagen and Adelaide made the top ten this year.