The Austrian capital of Vienna and the Syrian capital of Damascus are literally worlds apart, according to the new survey by The Economist of the world’s most livable cities.
The survey rated living conditions in 173 cities across five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. As The Economist noted, Vienna topped the list of the most liveable cities thanks to “its excellent mix of stability, culture and entertainment, and reliable infrastructure, tops the ranking for the fourth time in five years. Copenhagen, a similarly sized city with many of the same characteristics, is second. Melbourne, a fixture at the top of the ranking in the past, comes in third.”
Rounding out the top 10 were Sydney, Vancouver, Zurich, Calgary, Geneva, Toronto and Osaka.
The Economist also noted that “big cities with high levels of crime, congestion and density tend to fare less well. London—down 12 places from a year ago—comes in 46th and New York is down 10 spots to 69th.”
Still, those cities were far from the bottom of the list. The Economist noted that “Damascus has been the least livable city in the index for more than a decade [while] Tripoli is one space above, although its score is nearly ten points higher than that of Syria’s war-ravaged capital.”
Rounding out the bottom 10 for the least livable cities were Algiers in Algeria, Lagos in Nigeria, Karachi in Pakistan, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Harare in Zimbabwe, the war-ravaged Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and Douala in Cameroon.
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I agree with all the positives of Vienna; however, if you factor in the many homeless, graffiti, street crimes, and high costs, other cities have not been given fair consideration.