Delhi & Mumbai Among World’s ‘Unlivable’ Cities: Study

London: Indian metropolis such as Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata have got abysmally poor rankings in a list of the world’s most livable cities. The rankings, conducted by global consultancy firm Mercer, were based on parameters such as housing, environment, crime, education and health facilities among others.

1. Austrian capital Vienna was ranked at the top, followed by Zurich (Switzerland) and Vancouver (Canada).

2. None of the Indian cities found mention among the top 100 livable cities worldwide. Hyderabad was ranked at 143, Bengaluru at 149, Chennai at 151, Mumbai at 154, Kolkata at 160 and New Delhi at 162.

3. In Southern Asia, Indian cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru remained unchanged from last year’s ranking for overall quality of living, while Colombo (138) topped the ranking. At 105th place, Chennai ranks as the region’s safest city in that parameter, while Karachi (226) is the least safe.

4. Globally, Iraq’s capital Baghdad is at the bottom of the list due to an economic, security and societal crisis.

5. None of the Chinese cities made it to the top 100 despite the economic boom, but their rankings are better than of Indian cities — Shanghai (103), Beijing (120), Guangzhou (122) and Shenzhen (132).

6. As many as 13 of the world’s top 20 spots were taken by European cities. The major European capitals of Berlin (13), Paris (39) and London (41) remained static in the rankings this year, while Madrid (46) rose three places and Rome (56) climbed one place.

7. All US cities covered in the analysis fell in the rankings this year, with Washington DC (53) taking the biggest dip. The exception was New York (44), rising one place as crime rates in the city continue to fall.

8. Of all the cities in East and South East Asia, Singapore (30) ranked the highest in Asia and Phnom Penh (199) the lowest, for personal safety. Safety continues to be an issue in the central Asian cities of Almaty (181), Tashkent (201), Ashgabat (206), Dushanbe (209) and Bishkek (211).

9. In West Asia, Dubai (74) continues to rank highest for quality of living, followed closely by Abu Dhabi (78); whereas Sana’a (229) and Baghdad (231) rank lowest in the region.

10. In Africa, Port Louis (83) was the city with the best quality of living and also its safest (59). It was closely followed for the overall quality of living by the South African cities of Durban (88), Cape Town (95) and Johannesburg (96), though these cities still rank low for personal safety, and issues around water scarcity contributed to Cape Town falling one place this year.