Karachi ranks poorly on livability index

With a total score of 37.5, port city ranks 168 out of 172

Taking stock of a number of factors for relative comfort, The Economist Intelligence Unit’s global livability index ranked Karachi among the world’s most unlivable cities for the year 2022.

The port city was ranked at the 168th spot among 172 cities in terms of livability as the index examined over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors related to stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

The index scores cities in a range of 1-100, with 100 being the ideal score. Karachi scored 37.5, performing poorly on stability (20), healthcare (33), and culture and environment indicators (35.2). It scored averagely on the education (66.7) and infrastructure indicators (51.8).

This is not the first time the index has ranked Pakistan’s financial hub poorly, as it has been among the least 10 livable cities in the previous years too.

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On the other hand, the Austrian capital Vienna was declared the most livable city with a total score of 99.1. Scoring a perfect 100 on four indicators – stability, healthcare, education, and infrastructure – it also received a relatively good score of 96.3 on the culture and environment indicator.

The Austrian capital had previously retained the top spot in 2018 and 2019, but it was overtaken by Auckland, New Zealand, and it subsequently fell 11 spots to land at 12th.

Vienna is followed by Copenhagen, Denmark with a score of 98.0. The third spot is a tie between Zurich, Switzerland, and Calgary, Canada, both of which scored 96.3.

Moreover, the index also declared Damascus, Syria; Tripoli, Libya; and Lagos, Nigeria as the least livable cities in view of the crises they have been facing. Similarly, it downgraded the ratings of Russian cities and excluded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv from the list over the Russian invasion.