GUEST COLUMN, John Richard Schrock, Education Frontlines
The Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis section of The Economist Group based in the U.K., just released its 2024 Global Liveability Index on The World’s Most Liveable Cities. Few U.S. cities made the analysis of 173 cities across the globe.
Ratings are calculated based on five categories: Stability (25 percent), Healthcare (20 percent), Culture and Environment (25 percent), Education (10 percent) and Infrastructure (20 percent). Stability includes violent crime, military conflict and civil unrest. Healthcare includes availability of care and drugs, and healthcare outcomes. Culture and Environment includes a range of factors from humidity and temperature to corruption, censorship, and food. Education evaluates both availability and quality of education. And infrastructure includes quality of roads, housing, energy, water and telecommunications.
Vienna, capital of Austria, is the world’s most livable city for the third year in a row. And Western Europe held the most cities with high scores. The top ten most liveable cities in the world are:
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Copenhagen, Denmark
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Melbourne, Australia
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Vancouver, Canada
9. Osaka, Japan
10. Auckland, New Zealand
Asian cities grew most in their livability scores. Hong Kong moved from 61st place to 50th. Singapore moved up to 26th in the world, in part due to a perfect 100 in healthcare. Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Beijing each moved up four ranks.
But housing shortages were a major factor in cities falling in rank. For instance, Toronto fell to 12th this year, having ranked in the top 10 previously.
The cities that dropped in rank most include Tel Aviv in Israel that fell 20 ranks due to the recent violence and lack of stability. Miami, Florida was second in loss, falling 8 ranks.
Damascus in Syria remains the least liveable city (scoring 30.7 out of 100) due to instability and poor healthcare. Both Damascus and Tripoli rank lowest due to civil unrest that disrupts their economies. Kyiv in the Ukraine likewise suffers due to the Russian invasion in 2022. The bottom ten least liveable cities are:
164. Caracas, Venezuela
165. Kyiv, Ukraine
166. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
167. Harare, Zimbabwe
168. Dhaka, Bangladesh
169. Karachi, Pakistan
170. Lagos, Nigeria
171. Algiers, Algeria
172. Tripoli, Libya
173. Damascus, Syria
While the overall scores on liveability in these 173 cities has increased to 76.1 out of 100, there are serious decreases in both stability and cost-of-living factors. Many cities saw “where the availability of rental properties is at an all-time low and purchase prices have continued to rise despite interest-rate increases, further fueling anti-immigration sentiment.” The report concludes on a negative note, “...suggesting continuing stress on liveability that is unlikely to ease in the near future.”
