Dhaka still belongs to the category of one of the worst cities to live in, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The capital city of Bangladesh has ranked the second least liveable one at 139th position, just above the civil war-torn Syrian capital Damascus.
Even Libyan capital Tripoli (136) and Nigeria’s Lagos (137) were better placed than Dhaka in the EIU’s annual liveability ranking 2015.
Dhaka shows hardly any sign of improvement for the past few years as it continues to rank at the bottom of the listing among the global cities. Dhaka has scored only 38.7 points in a scale of 100, based on urban facilities and civic amenities.
Australian city of Melbourne has taken the top spot for the fifth consecutive year, with a score of 97.5 points. It has been followed by Vienna, Vancouver, Toronto and Adelaide/Calgary.
“It’s usually all about the top cities to live in,” writes CNN, “but this year the picture is rather more gloomy.”
And that’s because of a surge in global instability over the past 12 months, from terrorist shootings in France and Tunisia, to ongoing conflicts across the Middle East, Ukraine and Libya.
“The EIU ranking, which provides scores for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities worldwide, shows that since 2010 average liveability across the world has fallen by 1%, led by a 2.2% fall in the score for stability and safety. While this may seem marginal, it highlights that 57 of the cities surveyed have seen declines in liveability over the last five years,” this year’s report stated.
The ranking considers 30 factors related to things like safety, healthcare, educational resources, infrastructure and environment in 140 cities around the world.
Source: Prothom Alo