Melbourne, which earned an overall rating of 97.5, topped the list of the world's most liveable cities in 2014, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit for the fourth consecutive year.

140 cities were surveyed, and indexes were given based on each city's performance in five research categories: culture and environment, stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure. The ideal score in each category was 100.

Four Australian cities ranked among the top 10 list, attesting to the country's great environment, healthcare and education services and amazing infrastructure. Canada followed with 3 spots.

Cities which are undergoing wars and conflicts saw their rankings decline dramatically. Damascus, Syria, which is the city with the greatest decrease in its ranking, was at the bottom of the list with an overall rating of only 30.5.

Founded in 1946, the Economist Intelligence Unit is an independent business within The Economist Group, offering forecasting and advisory services such as industry reports and country economic forecasts.

Let's take a look at the top 10 most liveable cities in the world:

   Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland

Overall Rating: 95.7

Stability: 95

Healthcare: 95.8

Culture & Environment: 97

Education: 100

Infrastructure: 92.9