Melbourne: Most liveable city in Australia

The British lifestyle magazine Monocle has declared that Melbourne is more liveable than its northern rival Sydney in their 2015 Quality of Life Survey.

The Victorian capital appeared fourth, just ahead of Sydney at number five and behind Tokyo, which topped the list for the first time since the magazine launched the ranking nine years ago. Japan’s capital finished in second place last year.

Tokyo earned high marks for its “defining paradox of heart-stopping size and concurrent feeling of peace and quiet.”

According to Monocle, this year shows dramatic changes in the order of the top 25 cities, in part due to 22 new metrics "including several that look at housing and the cost of living, from the price of a three-bedroom house to the cost of a coffee, glass of wine and decent lunch,” explained Monocle editor-in-chief Tyler Brûlé. “We’ve also put more emphasis on access to the outdoors.”

GALLERY: Sydney vs. Melbourne

Portland, Oregon, came in last and was the only city in the United States to make the top 25.

While data-canvassing elements such as crime, healthcare, state-funded education and business climate remain the backbone of the Quality of Life Survey, it’s the “liveability assessment” that makes it truly unique. Supplied by Monocle’s correspondents on the ground, intangibles such as commitment to culture, closing time of bars, price of a good lunch and proximity to seas, lakes and mountains can make all the difference to a city and those who call it home.

Here’s the top 25:

1. Tokyo
2. Vienna
3. Berlin
4. Melbourne
5. Sydney
6. Stockholm
7. Vancouver
8. Helsinki
9. Munich
10. Zurich (tied)
10. Copenhagen (tied)
12. Fukuoka
13. Singapore
14. Kyoto
15. Paris
16. Madrid
17. Auckland
18. Lisbon
19. Hong Kong
20. Amsterdam
21. Hamburg
22. Geneva
23. Oslo
24. Barcelona
25. Portland