Do you live in a ‘livable’ city? Here are the world’s most livable cities as per Economist Intelligence Unit report

Vienna has been deemed the most livable city this year as per the annual ranking of the world’s most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The ranking was released on Thursday by the EIU, which is a sister organisation to The Economist. It surveyed and ranked cities across 173 countries based on a plethora of factors, including access to health care, crime rates, political stability and infrastructure.

Top 10 most livable cities

Vienna has replaced Auckland as the ‘most livable city’ in the previous year's list. Auckland is the most populous city in New Zealand, and dropped out of the top 10 list entirely this year and dropped to the 34th place due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions still in place in the city. The top 10 cities this year were mostly those cities that had fewer Covid restrictions.

Vienna’s comeback as the world’s most livable city in 2022 was because of the good stability and infrastructure the city provides to its people. In addition to these prime charms, Vienna has developed an effective health care system and provides plenty of opportunities for culture and entertainment to its residents.

Next came Copenhagen. The Danish capital has scored a high ranking on the Global Livability Index for many years in the past since the city has excellent infrastructure, a reliable transportation system and a high-level healthcare system.

In the third place was Switzerland’s Zurich. The largest city in the country has the world’s biggest financial centres, and the city is filled with several modes of transportation. It also scored extremely high when it comes to infrastructure, education and culture and entertainment.

Canada’s Calgary came in fourth. In fact, as a country, Canada had the most number of cities on the EIU’s top 10 list this year, a total of three. Calgary is home to world-class libraries and basic infrastructure. It also boasts a beautiful skyline at the foot of the majestic Rocky Mountains.

Following Calgary, came the second city in Canada on the top 10 list: Vancouver. It’s one of the cleanest cities across the globe and has developed an effective environmental sustainability system along with good education and affordability that push the city higher up in the rankings.

Geneva also referred to as the Peace Capital of Switzerland came in sixth. Geneva is an important financial hub in the world and is a centre for international diplomacy. It’s home to organizations including but not limited to the United Nations and the Red Cross. In addition to all of this, the city has extensive public transport networks and environmental protection plans.

Frankfurt in Germany was next on the EIU’s list. Frankfurt is a centre for commerce, culture, education as well as tourism. It has several cultural and educational institutions and the city also hosts the world’s largest book fair. It has a lot of botanical gardens and about 50% of Frankfurt’s city limits are protected green areas.

Toronto, Canada’s third and final city on the EIU’s top 10 list, came in eighth. Toronto has excellent health care facilities and offers a healthy lifestyle to its residents. Spread out across the city are many parks, nature trails and public infrastructure. Great education and culture and entertainment also give Toronto an edge.

In the ninth position is Amsterdam. The capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam has many tourist attractions including the historic canals, the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank house among many others. The city has many open spaces and parks coupled with well-connected transportation facilities.

And finally, two cities had a tie that came in the tenth place: Osaka in Japan and Melbourne in Australia. The two cities had similar rankings for their education system on the EIU’s report, while also boasting excellent infrastructure and healthcare systems.

10 least liveable cities

The list of the bottom 10 cities saw the maximum representation from the Asian and African nations. The list was thus: Damascus in Syria, Lagos in Nigeria, Tripoli in Libya, Algiers in Algeria, Karachi in Pakistan, Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Harare in Zimbabwe, Douala in Cameroon, Tehran in Iran.

Damascus, Tripoli and Lagos made it to the bottom of the EIU list due to the fact that these cities are facing social unrest, terrorism and conflict. However, most of the cities found at the bottom of the list were found to have improved their scores from the previous year as the pandemic-induced pressures have eased.

Other findings of the survey

While EIU’s Liveability Index has risen sharply in the 2022 survey largely because culture, environment, education and healthcare have all improved since the Covid restrictions began easing, the global average score continues to remain below the pre-pandemic levels.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, to be removed from the survey. The war has also influenced the rankings for Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia. Both of these cities have seen a fall in their rankings in the list because of increased instability, censorship, imposition of Western sanctions and corporate companies withdrawing their operations from the nation.

33 new cities were added this year by the EIU, which increased the chances and fairness for comparability. One-third of these cities were in China, and many of the new entrants including Surabaya located in Indonesia and Chongqing in China were found to be fast-growing business destinations.