The Economist has published its annual ranking of the most livable cities in the world.

The cities of the world have fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and returned to their former reality. Now the main problem for many of them is instability associated with a crisis in the cost of living, an increase in crime and corruption. Therefore, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) called its annual ranking of the most livable cities “Optimism in the midst of instability.” Vienna retained its leadership position in it, while Moscow remained in 96th place.

If last year life in the world’s major cities was only returning to what it was before COVID-19, this year the authors rating The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) of the most livable cities states that the pandemic is finally in the past. Over the past year, indicators of the quality of medical services, as well as education, culture, entertainment and infrastructure, have grown the most. This also reflects the average score of the index, which has risen from last year to 76.2 out of 100 points (not including indicators from Kyiv), the highest level in the last 15 years.

The only fly in the ointment in the barrel of growing optimism has been the decline in stability in many cities, where people take to the streets to protest the rising cost of living, where crime is on the rise, where military conflicts are unfolding.

The capital of Austria retained the first place in the ranking. According to EIU experts, Vein – an excellent combination of stability, education, healthcare and reliable infrastructure, as well as a high level of culture and a fairly wide choice of entertainment.

The 2nd place winner also did not change – he remained Copenhagenwhich is noted for high indicators of stability, education and infrastructure. Zurichwhich last year was in 3rd place, moved to 6th, and its place was taken by Melbourne. The top 10 also included Sydney (4th), Vancouver (5th), Calgary And Genevawho shared 7th place, Toronto (9th), Osaka And Aucklandwho tied for 10th place. London dropped from 34th to 46th place over the year, positions New York also worsened: from 59th he moved to 69th place.

The most inconvenient city to live in has been for more than 10 years Damascus (173rd place), in which, according to the EIU, there have been absolutely no improvements since last year. With a wide margin from it in terms of stability, health care, education and infrastructure, Tripoli (172nd place), Algeria (171st), Lagos (170s) and Karachi (169th).

In general, as the authors of the rating note, compared to last year, cities in the Asia-Pacific region improved their indicators of convenience for life the most.

So, welligton soared immediately by 35 positions and took 23rd place, Auckland moved up 25 positions (10th place), Perth – on 21 (12th), Hanoi – by 20 (129th).

And the reverse trend is observed most often in European or American cities. For example, Edinburgh moved down 23 positions and stopped at 58th place, Stockholm moved down 22 places to 43rd, and Los Angeles And San Diego — by 17 positions to 57th and 61st respectively. True, as the authors of the rating note, the reason for the fall is not at all that some of the indicators have deteriorated sharply, but that these cities have not been able to achieve the same significant improvement in indicators as Asian cities, therefore they were pushed lower.

Among those cities that have become less livable due to a decrease in the level of stability, EIU names Athenswhere civil protests do not subside. In France, city performance was hit by protests against pension reform. In the cities of Israel, South Africa, Bangladesh, Peru and a number of other countries, people protested against high fuel and food prices, and also resented the growing level of corruption in government.

Moscowwhich fell to 96th place in the last year’s ranking, has remained at the same position this year. Kyivwhich was not included in the ranking last year, returned to it this year, but was among the most inconvenient cities in the world for living – in 165th place, given the destruction of infrastructure during hostilities and the fall in stability.

Alena Miklashevskaya