Dhaka ranks the third least liveable city in the world, according to a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
Damascus in war-torn Syria remained the worst-ranked city, below Lagos in Nigeria and Dhaka.
Dhaka scored 39.2 out of 100 and ranked 138th out of 140 cities, according to the Global Liveability Index for 2019, published on Wednesday.
It has climbed up one notch in the index from the last year’s position. On the 2018 index, the city ranked 139th among 140 cities worldwide, scoring 38.
The report listed the cities worldwide based on a variety of lifestyle issues such health care, education, culture, environment, and infrastructure, says a bdnews24 report.
Dhaka scored 55 in stability, 29.2 in healthcare, 40.5 in culture and environment, 41.7 in education and 26.8 in infrastructure.
Cairo and New Delhi were downgraded due to environmental issues such as poor air quality and inadequate water provision. Karachi, Tripoli, and Harare also featured in the bottom 10.
Vienna has held off Melbourne to retain the top spot on the EIU’s latest index, further strengthening its reputation as the world’s most pleasant city, while the ‘gilets jaunes’ protests hurt Paris’ score, Reuters reports.
The Austrian capital, which attracts tourists for its classical music scene and imperial history but also has abundant green spaces and excellent public services, last year ended Melbourne’s seven-year run at the top of the survey of 140 cities, helped by an improved security outlook across Europe.
Vienna and Melbourne have been neck and neck in the EIU survey for years, but the Austrian capital also regularly tops a larger ranking of cities by quality of life compiled by consulting firm Mercer.
The gap between the two cities - of 0.7 point out of 100, with Vienna scoring 99.1 - was unchanged in the 2019 ranking, as were the cities in the top 10, though Sydney closed in on its old rival.
“Sydney has risen from fifth to third, thanks to an improvement in its culture and environment score, reflecting an increased focus on combating and mitigating the impacts of climate change, as outlined by the city’s ‘Sustainable Sydney 2030’ strategy,” the EIU said.
It poured cold water on Sydney’s prospects of overtaking Melbourne, however.
“With both cities already scoring very highly across all categories, there is only limited potential for Sydney to displace either Melbourne or Vienna at the top of the rankings. No other city in the top ten saw a change to its score.”
Japan’s Osaka was fourth, followed by three Canadian cities - Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto. Toronto was tied with Tokyo for seventh place. Copenhagen and Adelaide in South Australia rounded out the top 10.
