Dhaka ranks 166th on the list of livable cities

Dhaka cityFile photo

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, holds the 166th position out of 173 countries on the global livability ranking. It stands as the seventh least livable city on the list.

These findings are from The Global Livability Index 2023, recently published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

In the previous year's index, Dhaka also occupied the seventh spot from the bottom, ranking 166th out of 172 cities.

The EIU index reveals that Vienna, Austria has claimed the top position as the most livable city this year.

Liveable cities are measured by considering five aspects. They are sustainability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

Following Vienna at the top of the list is Copenhagen, Denmark; Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; Zurich, Switzerland; Calgary, Canada; Geneva, Switzerland; Toronto, Canada. Japan's Osaka and New Zealand's Auckland took the 10th spot jointly.

Damascus in Syria, Tripoli in Libya, Algiers in Algeria, Lagos in Nigeria, Karachi in Pakistan, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Harare in Zimbabwe, Kiev in Ukraine and Douala in Cameroon are in the bottom of the list.

The report indicates that the post-Covid situation has led to improvements in various countries worldwide. The survey was conducted between 13 February and 12 March of this year.

The average score for the 172 cities surveyed, excluding Kiev, now stands at 76.2, which is higher than last year's score of 73.2.

This marks the highest score in the past 15 years. Notably, the health sector has shown relatively greater improvement, while there have been slight advancements in education, culture, environment, and infrastructure.

However, the stability aspect has witnessed a decline, attributed to public unrest stemming from corruption and the rising cost of living, as per the report.