Dhaka ranked as the seventh least liveable city, moving up three notches from last year, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Liveability Index 2022 published on Thursday.
As Tripoli, Algiers, and Karachi declined in standing, the capital of Bangladesh rose. According to the EIU, the change was largely brought about by the removal of pandemic limitations.
Dhaka scored 39.2 out of 100 and ranked 166th out of 172 cities on the index for 2022. In 2021, its score was 33.5 and ranked 137th among 140 countries.
The city’s ranking stood at 138th and 139th in 2019 and 2018 respectively.
The EIU rates cities based on more than 30 qualitative and quantitative variables in five major categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
The Covid-19 pandemic caused the EIU rankings to change, resulting in the cancellation of the 2020 index and changes to the 2021 rankings as a result of lockdowns and social distancing measures that damaged scores for culture, education, and healthcare in cities all around the world.
The 2022 index, however, saw scores normalize when pandemic limitations were eased.
After falling to 12th rank in 2021 as a result of the closure of museums and restaurants due to Covid regulations, Vienna has risen to the top spot it held three years earlier.
Western European cities predominated the top 10 rankings, along with a few from Canada.
Copenhagen has moved up from sharing third place with Zurich to take second place after Vienna, while Calgary has moved up from joint-third with Zurich. Melbourne, Australia, and Osaka, Japan both took the tenth spot.
Los Angeles advanced 18 spots to capture the 37th spot, while London advanced 27 spots to claim the 33rd place.
Tripoli in Libya, Lagos in Nigeria, and Damascus in Syria are the three cities at the bottom of the list.
Kiev, Ukraine, was left off the list as a result of Russia's invasion of that country in February.
