Airports have been inspected, apartments assessed and neighbourhoods scrutinised - Fast Lane serves up its top 10 list of the world's most liveable, loveable cities.

This time last year Sydney took the top prize, followed by London, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Stockholm, Beirut, Zürich, São Paulo and Paris. The criteria demand that a city deliver quality of life across as many categories as possible. Here are my picks for 2005: