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Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Karachi's liveability crisis
EDITORIAL: Karachi's ranking of 170 out of 173 cities on the Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Index, released on June 17, is a stark reflection of its severe shortcomings in infrastructure, safety, healthcare and overall quality of life. Scoring a dismal 42.7 out of 100 across five categories — stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure — the city remains among the world's least liveable, plagued by crumbling services, environmental degradation and rampant inequality. Karachi's failings are especially jarring, given that urbanisation is often hailed as a driver of economic growth — stimulating investment, creating jobs and fostering innovation through dense networks of people and ideas. Yet, Pakistan's experience, and particularly Karachi's, tells a different story. Urbanisation here has unfolded in an entirely haphazard manner, leaving the city unprepared for its accompanying challenges. Instead of reaping the promised benefits of this phenomenon, Karachi embodies every conceivable disadvantage of unchecked urban growth: poor infrastructure, failing public services, environmental collapse, rising crime and deepening socioeconomic divides. The result is a metropolis where survival, not prosperity, remains the priority for far too many. Any study of Karachi's urban dysfunction will reveal that its decades-long decline is rooted in the weak and fragmented nature of its governance. As has been noted in this space before, less than half the city falls under the jurisdiction of city government authorities, with this fractured system deepening class divisions — where elites reside in upscale enclaves, while lower-income groups are left to battle neglect, exclusion from planning processes and inadequate public services. Politicised public institutions and a chronic lack of coordination among planning bodies have fuelled major urban failures, including a deteriorating housing stock, crumbling infrastructure, unreliable water supply, weakened local governments and growing climate vulnerabilities. The lack of coherent urban policy and enforcement has also fuelled chaotic expansion, with undocumented slums and peripheral settlements proliferating beyond the reach of basic services. This unchecked growth, in turn, has triggered an environmental crisis: solid waste overwhelms inadequate disposal systems, industrial pollution poisons air and water, and unrestrained construction devours green spaces, further eroding Karachi's liveability. It goes without saying that addressing Karachi's deep-rooted challenges demands a comprehensive restructuring of its governance and planning systems. First, it is essential to ensure that the city receives dedicated, long-term funding to upgrade its ageing infrastructure, expand essential services and build resilience against growing environmental threats. A World Bank study conducted by the Sindh government last year found that Karachi needs USD 3 billion annually just to modernise its dilapidated infrastructure. To meet such demands, sustainable revenue streams must be identified, recognising that investing in Karachi — given its centrality to Pakistan's economic, cultural and political lifeblood — will yield benefits not only for its residents but for the entire country. However, just throwing money at the problem won't be enough. Karachi needs its planning processes to actively involve local communities and homegrown experts, especially those with deep knowledge of the city's unique climate vulnerabilities that are often overlooked by external consultants. Development decisions must remain uninhibited by interference from the provincial and federal governments, with meaningful devolution of power through truly autonomous local governments. Crucially, the current fragmented governance structure must be addressed; as long as vast areas remain under separate entities like cantonment boards, a cohesive urban strategy will remain elusive. Back in 2015, Karachi ranked 135 out of 140 cities on the Global Liveability Index. A decade later, its continuing slide in the rankings lays bare the city's unchecked decline. This is a damning indictment of deep-seated governance failures, corruption and indifference of policymakers to the city's plight. It must be recognised that without radical governance and investment reforms, Karachi's downward trajectory will persist, dragging down its residents and the country alike. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
1News
4 days ago
- Business
- 1News
NZ cities retain top-20 ranking on world's 'most liveable' list
Auckland and Wellington have both maintained their positions in the recently released list of the top 20 most liveable cities in the world for 2025. The City of Sails has again shared its seventh-placed equal ranking with Osaka, Japan, up two places from ninth equal last year. Our capital city Wellington stayed the same, coming in at 20th place. Both cities had recently been ranked highly by the annual index by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Wellington on one of those "good days". (Source: Getty) ADVERTISEMENT Auckland was ranked the world's most liveable city and Wellington was ranked fourth in the 2021 index. Across the ditch, Melbourne came in at fourth place while Sydney came in at sixth. Perth and Brisbane were ranked 15th and 16th respectively. The Danish capital of Copenhagen dethroned the Austrian capital of Vienna for the number one spot, ending a three-year reign. Christopher Luxon is expected to travel to Sydney to meet with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday. (Source: Getty) The index, created by the Economist Intelligence Unit, rated 173 cities worldwide on factors such as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Damascus, Syria remained the least liveable city in the world. ADVERTISEMENT "Despite last year's regime change, Syria's capital city continues to be scarred by years of civil war and has seen no improvement in liveability," wrote the authors of the report. The top 20 most liveable cities 1. Copenhagen, Denmark 2. Vienna, Austria (tie) 2. Zurich, Switzerland (tie) 4. Melbourne, Australia 5. Geneva, Switzerland ADVERTISEMENT 6. Sydney, Australia 7. Osaka, Japan (tie) 7. Auckland, New Zealand (tie) 9. Adelaide, Australia 10. Vancouver, Canada 11. Luxembourg 12. Toronto, Canada ADVERTISEMENT 13. Helsinki, Finland 14. Tokyo, Japan 15. Perth, Australia 16. Brisbane, Australia 17. Frankfurt, Germany 18. Calgary, Canada 19. Amsterdam, Netherlands ADVERTISEMENT 20. Wellington, New Zealand.
Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
The world's 10 least liveable cities in 2025
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released its latest Global Liveability Index, evaluating 173 cities on five critical categories: stability, healthcare, culture & environment, education, and infrastructure. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now As per the said report, this year's average score remains unchanged from last year, at 76.1 out of 100. These rankings offer a global snapshot of how livable, or not, urban life is across the world. While the top cities often remain familiar, such as Vienna, Copenhagen, Zurich, the bottom of the list reflects regions gripped by war, political instability, economic collapse, or decaying infrastructure. The 2025 report shows a worrying trend: while healthcare and infrastructure saw some improvements globally, stability scores declined, thanks to ongoing conflicts and civil unrest. Here are the 10 least liveable cities in the world in 2025, based on the EIU's Global Liveability Index. Read more: Damascus, Syria — Score: 30.7/100 Holding its position at the very bottom, Syria's capital remains a city caught in the long shadow of civil war. Decimated infrastructure, limited healthcare, ongoing violence, and humanitarian crises make daily life perilous. Tripoli, Libya — Score: 40.1/100 Tripoli continues to suffer from lawlessness, rival militia control, and failing governance. Services are patchy at best, and instability keeps any sense of normalcy out of reach. Dhaka, Bangladesh — Score: 41.7/100 Overcrowded and choking on its own rapid expansion, Dhaka was down three places following the political upheaval in the country in 2024. Also, in terms of infrastructure, healthcare, and environmental quality, it hasn't fared well. Karachi, Pakistan — Score: 42.7/100 Pakistan's largest city has been facing persistent challenges in terms of infrastructure quality, urban governance, and public safety. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Public healthcare and transportation remain critically under-resourced. Read more: Algiers, Algeria — Score: 42.8/100 Algiers struggles with economic stagnation, poor infrastructure, and limited political freedoms. It scores particularly low on cultural vibrancy and environmental health. Lagos, Nigeria — Score: 43.5/100 Africa's most populous city faces major challenges: extreme traffic congestion, pollution, safety issues, and a strained healthcare system. Despite its commercial vibrance, quality of life is low. Harare, Zimbabwe — Score: 43.8/100 Economic instability, hyperinflation, and poor service delivery continue to plague Harare. Power shortages and water scarcity are routine, and healthcare access is minimal. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea — Score: 44.1/100 With high crime rates, weak infrastructure, and limited medical facilities, Port Moresby remains one of the least liveable cities in the Asia-Pacific region. Kyiv, Ukraine — Score: 44.5/100 This list also includes Kyiv. Notwithstanding the city's solid cultural and educational underpinnings, the main contributing reason is the enormous risk to civilian life posed by continuous shelling and enduring security threats, which have a detrimental effect on general stability. Caracas, Venezuela — Score: 44.9/100 In a country plagued by some of the highest homicide rates globally, it's no surprise that its capital struggles with liveability. Caracas records a low stability score of 35 and just 37.5 in healthcare, resulting in an overall livability score of 44.9.
CNBC
7 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Iran has a lot of options to hurt Western interests — but all carry a blowback, EIU economist says
Iran has a lot of options to hurt Western interests, but all options carry negative cost for the Iranian regime, says Cailin Birch, global economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Indian Express
23-06-2025
- General
- Indian Express
Knowledge Nugget: Why is the Global Liveability Index 2025 relevant for UPSC Exam?
Take a look at the essential events, concepts, terms, quotes, or phenomena every day and brush up your knowledge. Here's your knowledge nugget for today on Global Liveability Index 2025. (Relevance: UPSC frequently asks questions on reports and indices. The key takeaways from these reports are also essential fodder for your Mains examination for intricate points. In 2023, UPSC has asked questions on the World Water Development Report; in 2019, the question was on the Global Competitiveness Report. Therefore, you need to get a comprehensive understanding of these indices.) Urbanisation and urban migration have increased in recent years as people pursue better economic opportunities and living conditions. This has led to the concept of liveable cities—places that are sustainable, inclusive, and offer essential services, amenities, and opportunities for both personal and professional growth. In this context, let's know about the Global Liveability Index 2025 and its key highlights. 1. Global Liveability Index 2025, released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), assesses which locations around the world offer the best and worst living conditions. 2. Methodology and Indicators: The EIU's Global Liveability Index 2025 assessed 173 cities globally based on 30 indicators across theses five categories to disclose how comfortable these cities are to live in. 📌Stability, 📌Healthcare, 📌Culture and environment, 📌Education, and 📌Infrastructure. 3. Each indicator is rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable. The ratings are then weighted to provide a score from 1 to 100. The liveability rating of a city is given both as an overall score and as a score for each category. An overall position in the ranking of 173 cities is also provided. 1. This year's global average livability score across the 173 cities in the index was the same as last year, at 76.1 out of 100. 2. The index saw overall gains in education, healthcare, and infrastructure in 2025; however, the global average stability scores declined by 0.2 points amid rising geopolitical instability, civil unrest, and the global housing crisis. 3. Copenhagen has claimed the top spot to become the world's most liveable city in 2025, ending Vienna's three-year dominance by achieving perfect scores in stability, education, and infrastructure. The Austrian city saw a massive decline in its stability score due to terror threats, yet it outpaced the Danish capital in healthcare. 4. Western European cities once again dominated the global liveability rankings in 2025, followed closely by the Asia Pacific region, and the Canadian city, Vancouver represented North America in the top ten. 5. In contrast, cities in the Middle East and Africa ranked among the least liveable; however, on a more positive note, with marginal improvements in healthcare, education and infrastructure on average. -care Note: While there are no formal rankings for 3rd and 4th place, their relative positions are implied by their differing scores. (Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit- Global Liveability Index 2025.) 6. At the other end of the spectrum, cities in conflict zones or those battling weak infrastructure and public services continued to rank poorly. 7. Among the least Least Liveable Cities in 2025, Damascus retained its position as the least liveable city in the world, scoring just 30.7. Tripoli, Dhaka, and Karachi also remained near the bottom. 8. Notably, Stability scores have also declined in places like Tehran, Taiwan, and India due to mounting tensions and the threat of armed conflict. 1. The Smart Cities Mission was launched on June 25, 2015 with the aim of creating 100 smart cities. The cities were selected in rounds of competition held from January 2016 to June 2018, and they had five years from their respective selection, that is 2021 to 2023, to complete the projects. 2. Among its strategic components was 'area-based development', which includes city improvement (retrofitting), city renewal (redevelopment) and city extension (greenfield development), plus a pan-city initiative in which 'smart solutions' are applied covering larger parts of the city. 1. Statutory towns — those which have urban local bodies like municipal corporation, municipality or municipal committee. 2. Census towns — All those places satisfying the following 3 criteria: a) Population of atleast 5000 persons. b) Minimum population density of 400 persons per sq. km. and c) 75 per cent of the male workforce is employed in non-agricultural activities 3. In 2021, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs decided to push the deadline for all 100 cities to June 2023. The deadline was further pushed to June 30, 2024 and then to March 31, 2025. Consider the following statements with regard to the Global Liveability Index 2025: 1. It is released by the World Economic Forum. 2. Copenhagen is the world's most liveable city in 2025. 3. Damascus is the least liveable city in the world. How many of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All three (d) None (Sources: World's top 10 most and least liveable cities in 2025, 7 % projects to continue as Smart Cities Mission set to end March 31, Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter. Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X. 🚨 Click Here to read the UPSC Essentials magazine for June 2025. Share your views and suggestions in the comment box or at Roshni Yadav is a Deputy Copy Editor with The Indian Express. She is an alumna of the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University, where she pursued her graduation and post-graduation in Political Science. She has over five years of work experience in ed-tech and media. At The Indian Express, she writes for the UPSC section. Her interests lie in national and international affairs, governance, economy, and social issues. You can contact her via email: ... Read More
