Karachi ranked world‘s fourth ‘unlivable’ city

The port city's main problem is stability with lowest ranking on list

Karachi now ranks fourth in the world’s most unlivable cities, according to The Economist’s Intelligence Unit.

The port city has slipped in the rankings and is now at 137^th place on the list of 140 cities. The rankings are based on its stability, culture and environment, healthcare, education facilities and infrastructure.

The Sindh provincial capital has now been on the list of least livable cities for years. Last year, it came in at 134.

Dhaka in Bangladesh, Dakar in Senegal, Algiers in Algeria, Douala in Cameroon, Tripoli in Libya, Harare in Zimbabwe, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea, Lagos in Nigeria and Damascus in Syria are among the list of least livable cities.

Karachi’s culture and environment ranking was the lowest of the 10 cities at 38.7. However, its education rating was the highest at 66.7.

Furthermore, its infrastructure was also the highest with a rating of 51.8.



Notwithstanding, the main problem in the city seems to be stability – Karachi’s ranking was 20, which was the lowest on the list.

Stability is ranked by prevalence of crime, threats of military conflict and threats of terrorism or unrest.

Culture encompasses temperature, social or religious restrictions, censorship, sports, food and drink and consumer goods and services available.

Vienna in Austria has been ranked the world’s most livable city, with an overall rating of 99.1. Karachi, in contrast had a 40.9 rating.

In the top 10 countries, education and healthcare were rated 100 and the stability ratings were all above 95.

The livability index assesses the best and worst living conditions and “quantifies the challenges in a city”.

According to the findings, a rating of 50 or less means “most aspects of living are severely restricted”.

The article originally appeared in The Economist