Karachi ranked fifth worst livable city in new index

Karachi was declared the fifth worst city to live in, according to The Livability Index 2023, published by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) a sister arm of The Economist, earlier this week.

Karachi was ranked at 169 out of 173 countries, coming up ahead of Lagos, Nigeria, Algiers and Tripoli, in an index which ranks living conditions in a city across five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Karachi’s index rounded up to 42.5, not acquiring even half of the required living standards.

It attained a score of 75 in terms of education, 50 in healthcare and 51.8 in infrastructure.

However, it only scored 38.7 in culture and environment and its stability stood at only 20.

Livability nose-diving in Karachi

Vienna, Copenhagen and Melbourne topped the list.

The survey was designed to help companies calculate hardship allowances for staff who were moving to a new city, cited the report. Along with that, it also provides an index of the most and least desirable cities to live in.

The survey noted that cities in the Asia-Pacific region have rebounded most from the pandemic. The index also suggested that life in cities is a bit better than in the past 15 years.

Karachi ranked among the worst liveable cities

According to the list the top ten most livable cities are:

1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Melbourne, Australia
4. Sydney, Australia
5. Vancouver, Canada
6. Zurich, Switzerland
7. Calgary, Canada and Geneva, Switzerland
8. Osaka, Japan
9. Toronto, Canada
10. Auckland, New Zealand

Vienna topped the list for the fourth time in five years, because of its excellent mix of stability, culture and entertainment and reliable infrastructure.

Copenhagen, a similarly sized city with similar amenities, came in second.

Big cities with a high level of crime, congestion and density tend to fare less well. London is down 12 places from a year ago, coming in 46th, and New York is down ten spots to 69th.

The worst cities to live in are:

1. Doualaa, Cameroon
2. Kyiv, Ukraine
3. Harare, Zimbabwe
4. Dhaka, Bangladesh
5. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
6. Karachi, Pakistan
7. Lagos, Nigeria
8. Algiers, Algeria
9. Tripoli, Libya
10. Damascus, Syria

Damascus has been the least liveable city in the index for more than a decade, as has Tripoli. Kyiv, ravaged by war, also made the bottom ten.