Karachi ranked amongst least livable cities of the World: Survey

KARACHI: According to the ranks set by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Karachi is amongst the least livable cities in the world.

The annual EIU survey ranks 140 cities on a range of factors, including political and social stability, crime, education, and access to healthcare.

This year Karachi has been ranked 137^th, the fourth least likable cities to live in the world and have only ranked above the likes of Damascus in Syria, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Lagos in Nigeria.

The survey found that civil war and terrorism played a “strong role” in the worst performing cities. Of the cities with poor scores, 11 occupied the very bottom tier of livability, where ratings fell below 50 percent and most aspects of living were severely restricted. The [low] rankings of cities like Damascus, Karachi, and Tripoli suggested that conflict was responsible for many of the lowest scores.

Middle East, Africa and Asia account for the 10 lowest-scoring cities in the Economist global survey

The EIU noted that the cities that had seen a decline in their stability indicators over the past six months were Abu Dhabi (71st) and Dubai (69th) in the United Arab Emirates, Colombo (130th) in Sri Lanka and Warsaw (65th) in Poland.

On the other hand, Vienna, Austria’s capital has managed to bag the top position, knocking off Melbourne from the place after it was crowned number one for 7 consecutive years straight.

It’s the first time a European city has topped the rankings of the EIU annual survey.

Australia had Melbourne (second), Sydney (fifth) and Adelaide (10th) while Canada had Calgary (fourth), Vancouver (sixth) and Toronto (joint seventh). Japan’s Tokyo is also ranked (seventh).

Researchers pointed out that wealthy financial capitals such as Paris (19th), London (48th) and New York (57th) tended to be “victims of their own success” with higher crime rates and overstretched infrastructure dampening their appeal.