Vienna retains title as world’s most livable city

VIENNA, Austria: Vienna, the capital city of Austria has been named the world’s best city to live in for the third consecutive year, according to the Global Liveability Index 2024 published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The city received top scores for stability, healthcare, and education, and is praised for its rich cultural life and excellent public services.

Meanwhile, according to the report, Pakistan’s Karachi, and Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka are amongst the least liveable cities in the world as they feature in the bottom 10 of the list.

The index assesses the liveability of 173 cities based on five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

The survey showed an increase in average scores, thanks to improvements in healthcare and education in developing countries. However, this progress was offset by declines in scores for several top-tier cities.

Cities in the Middle East and North Africa show a diverse picture. The conflict between Israel and Hamas caused Tel Aviv to drop 20 places to 112th. Although regional stability scores suffered due to the conflict, there have been significant improvements in education and healthcare in many Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, leading to an overall boost in livability.

Notably, cities in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh, Jeddah, and Al Khobar) saw the greatest score increases. Despite these advancements, the region still includes some of the least livable cities, such as Algiers (Algeria), Tripoli (Libya), and Damascus (Syria).