Karachi has again been ranked among the five least habitable cities in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), an affiliated economist.
In its latest Global Liveability Index, Metropolis placed 170. Out of 173 cities evaluated globally, securing a total score of 42.7 out of 100, with 100 representing the highest level of viability.
The only Pakistani city that appears in the rankings continues Karachi to cope with key indicators. It was located just above Dhaka (Bangladesh), Tripoli (Libya) and Damascus (Syria), rounding the bottom of the list.
The annual report evaluates cities across five key categories: health care, stability, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. It is used primarily by companies to determine difficulties when moving employees to different regions.
At the other end of the spectrum, Copenhagen claimed the top position with an almost perfect score of 98. Vienna and Zurich followed each scoring of 97.1, while Melbourne and Geneva earned scores of 97.0 and 96.8 respectively.
Karachi’s low status in the EIU ranking reflects a wider pattern.
In previous years, it has been consistently compared to cities that face conflict, economic instability or infrastructural collapse. In last year’s index, it appeared with Lagos, Tripoli, Algiers and Damascus. In the report 2022, Karachi ranked 169. Out of 173.
Concerns for Karachi’s deteriorating urban environment are not new. A report released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last October found that the overall viability of Pakistani cities is falling.
City centers, especially Karachi, were described as becoming more and more ineffective and scored poorly on global competitiveness index due to challenges such as overload, pollution and poor urban planning.
