The Age报道，墨尔本正在接近成为世界顶级大学城市，但专家警告说我们的地位正在受到威胁，除非政府和行业能够采取根本行动以支持全国的高等教育。

    最新的全球大学城市排名指数从建立顶级大学的能力方面对各城市进行了评估，墨尔本排名第四位（上升一位），稍稍领先于悉尼，但排在伦敦、波士顿和东京之后。

    但主要行业和大学领导者都警告说，虽然墨尔本的居住性和吸引力是外国学生来澳的主要动力，但政府对大学研究和基础设施投资的缺乏却使城市受到了限制。

    “有许多方面我们可以做得更好，而有些部分需要有投资，不管是教育还是研究，“RMIT大学副校长Margaret Gardner说。

    “你不能忽视教育基础，因为那样你就会失去吸引力。”
                                 

    全球大学城市指数由RMIT大学创建，旨在突出某些世界最强的“知识经济”。被评估的城市主要以下列几个方面为标准：居住性、教育支出（在研究和学生方面）；毕业生数量；该城市有多少大学排在Financial Times Higher Education大学名单前列（墨尔本有三所：墨尔本大学，Monash和RMIT）。

    去年排名首次出炉时，墨尔本委员会Committee for Melbourne的一份附文就发出警官，表示我们的高等教育系统正处在“危机边缘”，因为政府提供资金不足，商业自满和日益激烈的国际竞争。

    今天的指数显示，巴黎从去年第三的位置下滑的第7位，很大程度上是因为其排在Financial Times上的大学数量比去年减少。

    五个城市挤进了今年的前20，包括：匹兹堡、维也纳、温哥华、费城和慕尼黑。

    以下为2008全球大学城市国家排名：（括号内为去年排名）
    1、 伦敦 英国（1）
    2、 波士顿 美国（2）
    3、 东京 日本（4）
    4、 墨尔本 澳大利亚（5）
    5、 悉尼 澳大利亚（6）
    6、 匹兹堡 美国（-）
    7、 巴黎 法国（3）
    8、 维也纳 奥地利（-）
    9、 芝加哥 美国（8）
    10、 纽约 美国（7）

Melbourne has moved up from fifth to fourth place in the index.

The 2008 Global University City Index has revealed the world’s liveliest education centres, with London, Boston and Tokyo leading the pack.

The index was developed by RMIT University, in collaboration with the Committee for Melbourne, to highlight the world’s top knowledge economies.

Melbourne has been ranked fourth in the 2008 index, up from fifth place in the inaugural index last year.

RMIT Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Margaret Gardner AO, said the index was a snapshot of the world’s most lively, diverse and intellectually vibrant urban centres.

“While there are other university cities with similar qualities, it is the mutually reinforcing confluence of strong urban infrastructure, quality of life, education and research that differentiates the true Global University City,” Professor Gardner said.

The index assesses cities on a range of measures including liveability, education expenditure, the number of its graduates and how many of its tertiary institutions are ranked in the top 200 Times Higher Education Supplement – Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings.

This year’s top 20 includes five new entries – Pittsburgh, Vienna, Vancouver, Philadelphia and Munich.

The index was developed in collaboration with the Committee for Melbourne.

“Global University Cities produce, sustain and are nurtured by the most globally mobile workforce the world has ever seen. They are home to knowledge workers and research clusters, marking them out as significant driving forces of the knowledge economy,” Professor Gardner said.

“For Global University Cities to sustain their advantage, ongoing investment of time and resources in their institutions and networks will be essential.

“Policy-makers in both public and private spheres face important issues in ensuring this asset is maintained and encouraged to flourish.”

Committee for Melbourne Chief Executive Officer Sally Capp said that while Melbourne was highly regarded for its “knowledge infrastructure”, more needed to be done to encourage and attract public and private funding to the higher education sector.

“The private sector must do more to prioritise higher education for contributions and as a focus of meaningful relationships to advance the research efforts of our higher education institutions,” Ms Capp said.

“The public sector needs to acknowledge the importance of higher education to all dimensions of our community and give appropriate attention and support to the sector.

“As individuals, we all need to be even more welcoming and inclusive of our international students to ensure that we leverage the cultural exchange as much as they leverage our high quality education offering.

“If we do not do these things then a fundamental platform supporting our economic prosperity and liveability in Melbourne is at risk.”

The 2008 Global University City Index