The Most Livable City Of The World- Melbourne

We all have a wishlist in our lives, don't we? Afterall, that's one of the purpose of our lives, to fulfil our wishlist. And there are some really crazy things in some of your wishlists, I know that for sure. Mine's also do contain some really wacky things but let's leave that for another day.

I always had a passion for travelling. Even though I had my first trip when I was about five and had been travelling since then as frequently as possible, my quench for travelling has never been satisfied or in other words travelling never bored me. I swear I never felt homesick in my life how much rough the conditions had been. So, as you can guess, travelling is one of the items in my wishlist. If travelling has made it to the list, there should be some names of places as well in it and sure there is. Actually, there's a huge number of places in it, starting from Toronto to Tokyo. But the place that tops the list and has the highest priority is the most livable city of the world. Yeah, you guessed it right, it's none other than Melbourne, the capital city of the state of Victoria.





Located in the south-eastern part of mainland Australia, the city reaches south-east through Dandenong to the growth corridor of Pakenham towards West Gippsland, and southward through the Dandenong Creek valley, the Mornington Peninsula and the city of Frankston taking in the peaks of Olivers Hill, Mount Martha and Arthurs Seat, extending along the shores of Port Phillip as a single conurbation to reach the exclusive suburb of Portsea and Point Nepean. In the west, it extends along the Maribyrnong River and its tributaries north towards Sunbury and the foothills of the Macedon Ranges, and along the flat volcanic plain country towards Melton in the west, Werribee at the foothills of the You Yangs granite ridge and Geelong as part of the greater metropolitan area to the south-west.

Melbourne happens to be one of the major cultural centre with endeavours spanning major events and festivals, drama, music, comedy, art and what not. Not just festivals, we also need to look out for the live performances like the Australian Ballet or the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Melbourne also has an extensive cinematic history and can also be referred to as the birthplace of feature films. It's the home of Village Roadshow Pictures, Australia's largest film production company and Dockland Studios Melbourne has hosted many domestic and international features including Ghost Rider, Knowing, Where The Wild Things Are, etc.

Another major attraction of Melbourne happens to be its architecture. The city consists of a mix of modern architecture with nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings. The modern skycrapers are set back from the street in order to preserve the old Victorian era buildings thus preserving the old while moving on with the times and ushering the new. Melbourne is also said to have contained the Queen Anne style APA Australian building (1889), though demolished now, which was the third tallest building at its time of completion and have started the skyscraper race in New York City & Chigaco. In 2012, the city contained as many as 594 skyscrapers.

The list of attractions can go really long so it's better to stop here. However, there's one thing that should have been mentioned in the beginning. It's also the attraction that made me put Melbourne in my list in the first place, the street art of Melbourne. It is said to be the biggest tourist attraction of the city.

Street art in Melbourne originated in the 70s & 80s when the graphiti of New York influenced the influenced the disaffected youth of the city, which subsequently became popular in inner suburbs of the city and along the suburban railway and tram lines. The city is also referred to as the 'stencil capital of the world' for stencil art was embraced here at an early stage and stencil festivals are held even today.

Different forms of street art is practised in the city, including woodblocking, sticker art, poster art, wheatpasting, graphs, various forms of street installations and reverse graffiti. The street art is viewed by the public as well as the local authorities as an art form thus making it more popular day by day. Many galleries in the City Centre and the inner suburbs have even started to exhibit the street art.

Artists from all over the world has contributed to the street art in Melbourne, most prominently from countries like Germany, Canada, United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand. International artists like Banksy, Fafi, ABOVE,
Logan Hicks and Revok have known to work here. To see the work of such artists is a dream come true not just for me but anyone alike.

So if you love street art like me then think no more but head straight to Melbourne. However, there's more to Melbourne than just street art and you can enjoy it all as well at the same time. From renowned architecture to cafe lined streetscapes and verdant parklands, to thrilling world-class events; there's always something new and exciting to discover in Melbourne. Therefore it's rightly called the most livable city of the world.

Enough of chit-chat, it's now time for you to answer a simple question and win shooping voucher worth Rs. 500. Just tell me, which place in Melbourne would you like to visit and why? Answer in the comments below.

Here's a video showcasing the street art of Melbourne:

This post has been written for Tourism Victoria in promotion of Melbourne.