Forget NY & London, this Austrian city most liveable in the world; no Indian urban centre on top 10 list

It is not New York or London, the capital of Austria took the top spot once again as the most liveable urban centre in the world, according to a much-awaited report released by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU); and there is some bad news for Indian city dwellers. Not even a single Indian city is on the list of top 10 liveable cities in the world. 

Vienna, the Austrian capital city, has retained its position at the top of EIU’s Liveability Index 2024 for the third consecutive year. The Global Liveability Index is released by the EIU every year. The index tabulates 173 cities across the world based on 30 indicators divided into five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. The index aims to show the level of comfort these cities offer to residents. This year, Vienna scored 100 for four of the five categories, although its score for culture and environment was at 93.5, owing to a lack of major sporting events.

Three more cities in Western Europe—Copenhagen, Zurich and Geneva—have also clinched high scores, according to the index. None of the Indian cities, however, could make it to the top 10 list.

Western Europe remains the best-performing region for liveability, while North America is best for education.  The European region’s overall score has slipped since last year, owing to a deterioration in the stability category due to increasing instances of protests and crime. North America scores an average of 90.5 for its 25 cities, but infrastructure scores fell in Canada, due to an ongoing housing crisis.

While Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa region, and Sub-Saharan Africa scored well in healthcare and education aspects, they performed poorly in the livability ranking.

The bottom of liveability rankings is dominated by cities from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa. Damascus, the capital of conflict-torn Syria, is still rated as the least comfortable city in the world to live in. Its score is just 30.7 out of 100 with scores for stability and healthcare particularly poor, according to the survey.

Overall, the average score across the 173 cities showed marginal improvement to 76.1 out of 100 due to geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest and a housing crisis across the globe. The Gaza conflict has pulled down the ranking of Tel Aviv and the Russia-Ukraine war kept Kyiv among the bottom 10 cities. Rising instances of protests in Europe and agriculture and immigration policies have also impacted the stability score in the region, the survey showed. 

The cost of living has impacted cities globally, especially in Australia and Canada. The surge in property prices has led to rising inflation in these cities. 

Liveability index is assessed on 30 qualitative and quantitative factors in five broad categories- stability, healthcare,culture, environment, education and infrastructure. Each city is rated according to these factors as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable , undesirable or intolerable. The rating is provided for overall performance and according to performance across each category. None of the Indian cities could score enough to make it to the top 10 list.