Melbourne is Australia’s premier city. Consistently ranked as one of the most liveable cities in the world, we have an energy, a vibe and buzz that’s the envy of the world. For me, the essence of Melbourne is captured in the words—sophisticated, cultured, clever and forward thinking, intimate, easy to navigate, sustainable, caring and collaborative.

The decision to leave home and travel to another city to live for a few years isn’t one to be taken lightly. Many elements are factored into the decision,lifestyle being one of them.

So, what would make you decide to come and study in Melbourne? What sort of city is Melbourne?

Melburnians love the good life. Good wine, good food, good friends, leading edge architecture, beautiful gardens, stylish fashion. In turn, Melbourne has become internationally renowned as a city for the arts, a city for festivals, a city of style.

And asthe sporting and events capital of Australia, and now ranked World’s Best Sport City, sport is no mere past time—it’s embedded in the culture of the city and its people.

From a tourism perspective, we are Australia’s premier tourism destination for domestic tourists. That is a huge vote of confidence by Australians! We are filled with fabulous restaurants and bars, the most interesting of which are found down our famous atmospheric laneways and alleys, where you’ll find specialist boutiques, bookshops, art galleries and restaurants.

And while all of this is a major draw, our city wouldn’t be as vibrant as it is if it wasn’t for our extraordinary cultural diversity and multiculturalism. Melbourne has the largest Greek speaking population outside of Greece. And you’ll also find a similar sized representation from Italy, Vietnam, China, India, Thailand, Horn of Africa, South America and many more nations.

Ours is a tolerant, resourceful, energetic and passionate city that’s extremely open and welcoming to visitors.

Tolerance, Talent, Technology, Cool, Edgy, Sophisticated—the hallmarks of Melbourne.

And talent is a key driver for economic growth. People gravitate to places where they find the best conditions to live, work and grow. In the same way, businesses move to where talent and opportunities are available. In today’s global economy marked by high talent mobility, cities face intense competition in attracting global talent and business concurrently.

Melbourne offers innovation, superior infrastructure, outstanding human capital and quality places to live, world class education and centres for excellence.

For all these reasons, Melbourne is Australia’s pre-eminent hub for the education, aeronautical, biotech, automotive, manufacturing, banking, design, green technologies, retail, tourism and hospitality industries. More than 60 per cent of Australia’s financial services industry (including pension and superannuation funds) is located in my city—and Australia is ranked in the top 4 in the world.

As Lord Mayor of Melbourne,I am constantly invited to speak about Melbourne to other world cities. Just recently, I spoke about the ‘Melbourne Success Story’at the OECD in Paris, a few days later to my mayoral colleagues in Canada and then in Singapore at the World Cities Summit.

World mayors share an interest in how we can attract innovation and creativity to our cities; how to make our cities sustainable and how we can leverage our competitive advantages to drive prosperity.

For me some of the answers to these questions lie in what Melbourne has become—a city with cutting-edge design, stylish streets and legendary laneways, innovative architecture, cutting edge retail, a booming economy and a cultural and social mix that reminds us that the real heart of Melbourne lies with its people.

Come and see for yourselves!

 

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle