Dhaka becomes runner-up in worst living conditions

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FE Report
Dhaka is ranked the second worst city in the world in an annual global survey of livability that assesses living conditions in 140 cities.
The survey conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a business information arm of The Economist Group, the publisher of the respected magazine bearing its name, put the Bangladeshi capital just ahead of Harare of Zimbabwe.
The survey found the city of 13 million people scoring below average marks in five broad categories that the citizens most care about: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
The ongoing social and economic crisis in Zimbabwe - the southern African nation -- ensures that its capital Harare is still the worst of the 140 cities surveyed.
Dhaka scored 38.7 per cent to jointly become the 138th city in the world with Algiers of Algeria in the EIU livability survey. Harare scored 37.5 per cent.
Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, grabbed 135th position to be the sixth from the bottom, while two other South Asian capitals, Colombo and Kathmandu, fared marginally well capturing the 132nd and the 133rd places.
Douala (Cameroon), Lagos (Nigeria), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea) and Dakar (Senegal) filled up the remaining places of the bottom league.
Indian cities earned better grades, with Mumbai (117th) and New Delhi (113th) scoring 56.5 and 58.6 per cent.
Canadian and Australian cities account for seven of the best ten spots in the EIU's latest ranking.
Vancouver of Canada, which scored 98 per cent, retained its top position, with the city offering an excellent infrastructure and low crime levels as it hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
"Vancouver scores well across all categories in the survey and the forthcoming Winter Games contribute to a strong score in the cultural and sporting events category," said Jon Copestake, editor of the report, according to EIU website.
Vienna of Austria stood second with a score of 97.9 per cent, leaving Melbourne of Australia in the third.
Two more cities from Canada also grabbed places in the top ten list with Toronto and Calgary ranked fourth and fifth respectively with scores of 97.2 and 96.6 per cent.
Australia's Sydney, Perth and Adelaide also found places in the top tier of best living conditions, helping the island state become one of the strongest scorers.
Helsinki of Finland ranked sixth with a rating of 96.2 per cent and Auckland of New Zealand finished top ten with a score of 95.7 per cent.
In Western Europe, London, host to the 2012 Olympic Games, sits in 54th position with a score of 88.4 per cent.
The EIU's livability rating, part of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, is a rating of relative comfort for 30 indicators, which gives an overall rating of 0-100, where one is 'intolerable' and 100 is 'ideal'.
The report considers that any city with a rating of 80 or more will have few, if any, challenges to living standards.
The concept of live-ability assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions.