The 10 worst cities in the world to live in
According to experts from The Economist, Damascus (Syria) is the worst city in the world to live in. That is followed by others such as Lagos (Nigeria) and Tripoli (Libya).
Quality of life, job opportunities and the availability of efficient public services are some of the factors that tip the balance for citizens when choosing the city in which they decide to settle.
Worst cities in the world
As happened last May with the survey carried out by the software company Kisi, which established Oslo (Norway) as the best city in the world to live in, this time the experts from The Economist magazine have drawn up the contrasting list with the worst cities in the world in which to develop work and personal life. According to them, Damascus, the capital of Syria, leads the ranking of the ten worst cities to live in.
Factors such as stability, medical care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure influence the index prepared by the aforementioned media group. However, in the case of the worst cities, other elements have also been taken into account, such as the likelihood of war, violence and terrorism that occur there. Along with the Syrian capital, there are two African cities, near the top. One of them is Lagos, the most populous city in Nigeria with 13 million inhabitants, and Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
| Worst cities to live | Best cities to live |
|---|---|
| Damascus | Viena |
| Lagos | Copenhagen |
| Tripoli | Zurich |
| Algiers | Calgary |
| Karachi | Vancouver |
| Port Moresby | Geneva |
| Dhaka | Frankfurt |
| Harare | Toronto |
| Douala | Amsterdam |
| Tehran | Melbourne |
As can be seen in this table, there are no cities from the United States of America in either the worst or best ten, although Canada is represented positively three times with Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto all making the top list.
With respect to the rest of the cities included in the ranking, they include Algiers (Algeria), Karachi (Pakistan), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Harare (Zimbabwe), Douala (Cameroon) and Tehran (Iran). In addition, there have also been changes in the list, in which some of the main cities in China have fallen several positions. The increase in infections caused by the Omicron variant, which brought with it restrictions, has been the cause of this decrease, according to experts.
Unlike the previous cities, the Global Habitability Index 2022 places Vienna (Austria) as the best city in the world to live in, a title that the Austrian capital regains after receiving this label in 2018 and 2019. Among the ten best cities there are five other European cities. Copenhagen (Denmark), Zurich and Geneva (Switzerland), Frankfurt (Germany) and Amsterdam (Netherlands). Those aforementioned Canadian cities and Melbourne (Australia) complete the list.
Russia-Ukraine war hits eastern Europe ranking
There is no surprise that cities of Eastern Europe have suffered a significant decrease, due to the war in Ukraine. The two most important Russian cities stand out in this regard, Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Due to censorship and economic sanctions applied by the European Union and the United States, these two cities have experienced a sharp decline in the 2022 Global Livability Index.