Dike Onwuamaeze
The Economist Intelligence United (EIU) report on “The Global Liveability Index 2023: Optimism Amid Instability” has listed Lagos among 10 cities at the bottom of its ranking.
The EIU report, which ranked Lagos 170 out of 173 cities it surveyed, explained that the liveability survey quantified the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 173 cities worldwide and provided a profile for each city.
The report noted that every city was rated across five broad categories, which are stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure, adding that each factor in a city is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable.
In the report, Lagos was ranked behind Douala, Cameroon and Harare, Zimbabwe that were ranked 164 and 166 respectively.
The EIU report added: “Even at the bottom of our rankings, cities such as Lagos (Nigeria) and Algiers (Algeria) have gained ground, with some improvements in their healthcare and education systems.
“Both are in countries that are energy exporters and have to some extent benefited from higher global oil and gas prices. Although corruption continues to be an issue, some additional public funding has been made available for infrastructure and public services, which have also benefited from the decline in COVID cases.”
It added: “Damascus (Syria) and Tripoli (Libya) are still at the bottom of the list, held back by social unrest, terrorism and conflict. However, while Damascus has seen no improvement since last year, scores for Tripoli and other cities in the bottom 10 have improved as the pandemic has receded.”
According to the report Lagos was awarded an index of 42.2 having scored 25.0 for stability; 37.5 for healthcare; 54.4 for culture and environment; 41.7 for education and 53.6 for infrastructure.
However, Vienna (Austria) came top on the ranking with an index of 98.4 that was garnered from scoring 100 points for stability, healthcare, education and infrastructure and 93.5 for culture and environment.
In contrast, Damascus (Syria) that took the last position in the ranking with an index of 30.7. It scored 20 for stability; 29.2 for healthcare; 40.5 for culture and environment; 33.3 for education and 32.1 for infrastructure.
The report stated that its findings showed that the “EIU’s Liveability Index has risen significantly in the 2023 survey, reaching a 15-year high as the world moves on from the COVID-19 pandemic and healthcare and education score improved in many cities in Asia and the Middle East and Africa. However, scores for stability have slipped backwards since last year, amid several instances of civil unrest around the world.”
It also said that “Vienna (Austria) tops the rankings for 2023, owing to its winning combination of stability, good culture and entertainment, reliable infrastructure, and exemplary education and health services.
“It (Vienna) has occupied this position regularly over the past several years, with only the COVID-19 pandemic causing the city to vacate its place at the top spot.
“Copenhagen (Denmark) takes second place, while a shift towards normality after the pandemic has helped the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney to bounce back up the rankings to third and fourth place, following a sharp tumble in 2022. Three cities in Canada, two in Switzerland, and two in Asia (a New Zealand and a Japanese city are joint tenth) make up the rest of the top ten positions.”
The reported noted that “Asia-Pacific cities have made some of the biggest gains, accounting for eight of top ten movers up the rankings as economies recover from the pandemic. Wellington (New Zealand) has soared by 35 places to 23rd place, Auckland (New Zealand) by 25, while Hanoi (Vietnam) has moved up 20 spots, as their COVID restrictions were lifted.
“Western European cities have slipped down the rankings in the 2023 survey. Increased instances of workers’ strikes and civil unrest have hurt their stability ratings and they have failed to match gains made by cities in Asia and the Middle East.”
Commenting on Kiev, Ukraine, the report stated that the city, “is back in our survey, having been forced out by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. However, the city ranks a lowly 165th out of the 173 cities in our survey, with its stability and infrastructure damaged by the war. Moscow (Russia), which fell to 96th place in 2022, has remained stable this year.
