Vienna maintained this Thursday its position as the city with the best quality of life in the world for the third consecutive year, according to the magazine’s classification The Economist, that downgraded the grade of Tel Aviv, in Israel, due to the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The Austrian capital is followed by Copenhagencapital of Denmark, the Swiss city of Zurich, Melbourne in Australia and Calgary in Canada, according to the magazine’s Intelligence Unit (EIU) classification.
Among the 10 cities with the best quality of life are four European, two North American and four from the Asia Pacific region. “Western Europe remains the most habitable region,” says a statement from the EIU.
The analysis group highlights, however, that its stability indices decreased due to “increasing cases of protests (…) on a variety of issues,” from the rise of far-right extremism to the agricultural policy of the European Union and the policies against immigration. Vienna was already the most liveable city in the world between 2018 and 2020 and again from 2022.
Buenos Aires was once again chosen as the best city to live in both Latin America and the Caribbean, based on this annual survey that classifies 173 cities in five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
Among the best in the region are also Montevideo and Santiago de Chile. On the other hand, Caracas occupies the worst position.
Why Vienna is chosen
Vienna scored top marks in terms of stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure.
The quality of life in cities increased slightly last year, but the “improvement is only marginal, held back by geopolitical conflicts, civil unrest and a real estate crisis in many cities” in the midst of inflation, the statement said.
The Israeli city of Tel Aviv It fell 20 places, more than any other, until finishing in position 112 out of 173 in the classification.
This is due to the context of war in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7.
What are the least habitable cities?
Street stalls at the al-Salhiyah market in Damascus, Syria. Photo. EFE.Syria’s war-torn capital Damascusmaintained its place as the least livable city.
The capital of Venezuela, Caracasis among the ten least livable cities on the planet, just ahead of kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, at war with Russia since February 2022.