Measuring liveability of cities

In the Economist Intelligence Unit 2015 Report on liveability of 140 cities around the world, Melbourne in Australia remains the most ideal location, followed by the Austrian capital, Vienna. Vancouver in Canada, which was the most liveable city surveyed until 2011, lies in the third place. Although the top cities remain unchanged, the last year has seen a number of changes in city liveability scores. Over the past six months, 38 cities of the 140 surveyed have experienced changes in scores. This rises to 53 cities, or 37 per cent of the total number surveyed, when looking at changes over the past year. Of these changes the majority have been negative.
Civil unrest, acts of terror and violence have triggered stability declines around the world. High-profile terrorist shootings in France and Tunisia, and the ongoing actions of Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East have led to a further heightened threat of terrorism in many countries. Meanwhile, protests over matters like police brutality, democracy and austerity have also raised the threat of civil unrest in many countries, notably the US where the deaths of a number of black people in police custody have led to widespread protests and accusations of racism. Events in Ukraine, and the subsequent sanctions imposed by many countries, continue to have knock-on effects for cities such as Kiev, Moscow and St Petersburg.
Nonetheless, there does appear to be a correlation between the types of cities that sit right at the very top of the ranking. Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density. These can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure. Seven of the top ten scoring cities are in Australia and Canada, with population densities of 2.88 and 3.40 people per sq km respectively. Elsewhere in the top ten, Finland and New Zealand both have densities of 16 people per sq km. These compare with a global (land) average of 45.65 and a US average of 32. Austria backs this trend with a density of 100 people per sq km. However, Vienna's population of 1.7m people is relatively small compared to the urban centres of New York, London, Paris and Tokyo.
Global business centres tend to be victims of their own success. The "big city buzz" that they enjoy can overstretch infrastructure and cause higher crime rates. New York, London, Paris and Tokyo are all prestigious hubs with a wealth of recreational activity, but all suffer from higher levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems than would be deemed comfortable.
Of the poorer-scoring cities, 14 continue to occupy the very bottom tier of liveability, where ratings fall below 50 per cent and most aspects of living are severely restricted. Gradually increasing stability has seen marginal improvements in the score of Lagos in Nigeria, but the continued threat from groups like Boko Haram acts as a constraint. A more stable outlook has also led to improvements in Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire. The liveability scores for both Damascus and Kiev have continued to decline steeply. Escalations in hostilities in Libya have also prompted a sharp decline in liveability in Tripoli as the threat to stability from IS continues to spread across the Middle East and North Africa. Damascus remains ranked at the bottom of the 140 cities surveyed.
Given the miserable position of Bangladesh capital Dhaka (139th, second from bottom), the country's policy makers should focus on improving living standards. The main emphasis should be on the stability of the capital Dhaka, particularly in respect of prevalence of violent crimes and threat of terror attacks. Healthcare follows. It covers availability and quality of private and public healthcare services, availability of over-the-counter drugs, and general healthcare indicators. These are followed by factors related to culture and environment, like discomfort of climate to travellers, level of corruption, restrictions, availability of food and beverage, consumer goods and services, and sporting facilities. Definition of a liveable city also includes educational factors, like availability of private education, and quality of private and public education indicators. Lastly, focus should be on infrastructure-related factors. They include quality of road networks, quality of public transports, quality of international links, and availability of good quality housing, quality of energy and water provisions and quality of telecommunications.
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