Travel and tourism (Common Wealth) _ According to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2023 Global Liveability Index, Vienna is the world’s most liveable city for the second year in a row. Vienna has topped the rankings for the fourth time in five years, owing to its stability, culture and entertainment, and dependable infrastructure. Copenhagen, Denmark, retained second place, while Melbourne and Sydney rose to third and fourth place, respectively, returning to the top 5, where they had previously been a continuous presence among the leading positions prior to the pandemic. London came in 46th place.
“Vienna continues to offer an unrivaled combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education and healthcare services, and plenty of culture and entertainment, with one of its few drawbacks being a relative lack of major sporting events,” according to the index’s compiler, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). “The same is true of Copenhagen, another consistent high performer that has maintained its second-place position.”
This year’s global index score has returned to pre-Covid-19 levels under the headings of Optimism and Instability, showing that the world has recovered significantly from the pandemic. The survey concludes that “life in cities is a bit better than at any time in the last 15 years,” ranking living conditions in 173 cities based on stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure,” though stability scores dropped on average in 2023 due to global clashes, political disruptions, social protests, inflation, and wars.
This year’s rise in living standards can be credited mostly to improvements in education and healthcare scores across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East in the aftermath of the epidemic. In fact, the region that has recovered the greatest has to be Asia Pacific, whereas Western European cities have fallen down the ranks due to strikes and civil upheaval.
On the other hand, the survey identifies the cities that will be the least liveable in 2023. Damascus has continuously ranked as the least livable city in the report, retaining the lowest position for more than a decade. Despite its efforts to protect oneself from the fighting, Kyiv is nonetheless among the ten worst-ranked cities.
Rating cities for liveability is a difficult endeavor, but one that the EIU undertakes each year. It rates 172 cities in five areas: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
According to the EIU, the average index score for cities this year was 76.2 out of 100, a 15-year high. Healthcare scores improved the greatest, with education, culture and leisure, and infrastructure rankings improving the least. Only stability suffered a small dip, reflecting civil unrest in several areas during a cost-of-living crisis, as well as an increase in crime in some places.
The EIU stated that their findings provided reason for “optimism amid insecurity.” That may not be the case for residents of the United Kingdom, whose cities fell further down the ranking. Edinburgh, Manchester, and London dropped the most, dropping 23, 16, and 12 places, respectively.
“None of these cities has seen a particularly sharp decline in their index scores, but they have failed to make the gains that many other cities – particularly those in Asia – have made in the past year,” the EIU stated.
The most improved cities, on the other hand, were Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand, and Perth in Australia. Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta were all among the top performers. “As the world’s political and economic axis continues to shift eastwards, we expect cities in these regions to slowly move up our liveability rankings,” said Upsana Dutt, the EIU’s Liveability Index’s head.
Even at the bottom of the rankings, cities like Lagos (rank: 170) and Algiers (rank: 170) made progress, with some improvements highlighted in their healthcare and education systems. When generating the Global Liveability Index, the EIU does not consider the cost of living. The organization has its own ranking for this: the Worldwide Cost of Living report. The most expensive cities in the world, according to its most recent edition, are Singapore, New York, and Tel Aviv, followed by Hong Kong and Los Angeles – none of which featured highly in the liveability index.
According to the EIU, these are the finest cities to live in. 1. Vienna, Austria 2. Copenhagen, Denmark 3. Melbourne, Australia 4. Sydney, Australia 5. Vancouver, Canada 6. Zurich, Switzerland 7. Calgary, Canada 8. Geneva, Switzerland 9. Toronto, Canada 10. Osaka, Japan=. Auckland, New Zealand
