Dhaka is the worst city among 140 in the world, according to a survey of Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2012 Global Liveability.

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, has the unenviable title of being the least liveable location surveyed.

Meanwhile, four of Australia's majorcities have been named among the world's most liveable - with Melbourne once again being named the best, the survey said.

Elsewhere in the world the impact of the Arab Spring, and the fallout from the Euro zone crisis, are still being felt.

Many cities in the Middle East and North Africa have seen downward revisions of their scores due to civil unrest.

The ongoing civil war in Syria saw the capital, Damascus, fall furthest as violence intensified, dropping 13 places to 130th and into the very bottom tier of liveability with a score of 46.3 per cent.

London, which recently hosted the Olympic Games, saw a drop in score as a result of riots that took place in the UK last year, causing it to fall two places to 55th in the ranking.

The global liveability report surveys 140 locations around the world to assess the best or the worst living conditions.

It originated as a means of testing whether human resource departments needed to assign a hardship allowance as part of expatriate relocation packages.

It has since evolved as a broad benchmarking tool used by city councils, organisations or corporate entities looking to test locations against one another.

Cities are scored on political and social stability, crime rates and access to quality health care.

It also measures the diversity and standard of cultural events and the natural environment; education (school and university); and the standard of infrastructure, including public transport.

Melbourne has been crowned the world's most liveable city for the second year running, with the city's Lord Mayor cashing in on the award to springboard a bid to host the Olympics.

Melbourne outperformed the 140 rivals to receive the Global Liveability Survey gong with a near perfect score of 97.5 per cent. It only lost points for climate, culture and petty crime.

The survey scored cities on political and social stability, crime rates and access to quality health care.

It also measured the diversity and standard of cultural events and the natural environment, education and the standard of infrastructure including public transport.

Ranking of top 10 liveable cities:

1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
5. Adelaide, Australia
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Helsinki, Finland
9. Perth, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

Source : The Independent