Dhaka goes two notches down to become second least liveable city in the world

Dhaka ranks the second least liveable city in the world, just before Syria’s Damascus that retained last place, according to the latest report from the Economist Intelligence Unit or EIU.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 14 August 2018, 05:38 AM
Updated : 14 August 2018, 07:13 AM

Dhaka scored 38 out of 100 and ranked 139th out of 140 cities, according to the Global Liveability Index 2018, published on Tuesday.

The city moved two notches down from the last year’s position, becoming one of the ‘sharpest movers down the ranking’. On the 2017 index, Dhaka ranked 137th among 140 cities worldwide, scoring 38.7.

The report listed the cities worldwide based on a variety of lifestyle issues such health care, education, culture, environment and infrastructure.

MOST PLEASANT CITIES

Vienna has dislodged Melbourne for the first time at the top of the 2018 index, strengthening the Austrian capital's claim to being the world's most pleasant city to live in.

The two metropolises have been neck and neck in the annual survey of 140 urban centres for years, with Melbourne clinching the title for the past seven editions.

This year, a downgraded threat of militant attacks in western Europe as well as the city's low crime rate helped nudge Vienna into first place.

Vienna regularly tops a larger ranking of cities by quality of life compiled by consulting firm Mercer. It is the first time it has topped the EIU survey, which began in its current form in 2004.

At the other end of the table, Damascus retained last place, followed by the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, and Lagos in Nigeria, EIU said.

The survey does not include several of the world's most dangerous capitals, such as Baghdad and Kabul.

"While in the past couple of years cities in Europe were affected by the spreading perceived threat of terrorism in the region, which caused heightened security measures, the past year has seen a return to normalcy," the EIU said in a statement.

"A long-running contender to the title, Vienna has succeeded in displacing Melbourne from the top spot due to increases in the Austrian capital's stability category ratings," it said, referring to one of the index's five headline components.

Vienna and Melbourne scored maximum points in the healthcare, education and infrastructure categories. But while Melbourne extended its lead in the culture and environment component, that was outweighed by Vienna's improved stability ranking.