Dhaka 2nd worst city

Dhaka has been ranked as the second least liveable city among the world's 140 cities in this year's Global Liveability Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit. 

Only Damascus in war-torn Syria lags behind Dhaka, which was placed in second position last year too and at the bottom the year before.

The list is prepared based on the scores across a range of criteria, including health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.

The capital of Bangladesh had come second from the bottom of the GLI index in 2012 and 2011. 

Australia's Melbourne has retained its status as the world's most liveable city for the fourth consecutive year, outscoring three other Australian cities in the top 10. It also scored a perfect 100 points in the sub-category of sport.

Economist and urban researcher Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman said there was nothing surprising about Dhaka's position at the bottom of the GLI index time and again as the quality of life and urban governance in Dhaka have been worsening over the years.

Dhaka has been suffering from perennial traffic gridlock, destruction of wetland and green spaces and encroachment of pedestrian space, he pointed out.

Moreover, it lacks an efficient waste management system, an efficient public transportation system and a functional cultural life, stated Zillur, who is executive director of private think-tank Power and Participation Research Centre.

“Over the years, public resources have been allocated to vanity projects, which would not improve the quality of urban life,” he added.

Urbanisation expert Prof Jamilur Reza Chowdhury lamented the fact that nobody around was taking care of the parameters related with the quality of life in the capital. 

He sarcastically said the other way of dealing with the situation is to challenge and sue those who had conducted the liveability survey for dishing out “wrong information” about Bangladesh.  

The other least liveable cities in the list are Abidjan (Cote d'Ivoire), Tripoli (Libya), Douala (Cameroon), Harare (Zimbabwe), Algiers (Algeria), Karachi (Pakistan), Lagos (Nigeria), and Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea).

 The top ranking cities are Vienna (Austria), Vancouver (Canada), Toronto (Canada), Adelaide (Australia), Calgary (Canada), Sydney (Australia), Helsinki (Finland), Perth (Australia), and Auckland (New Zealand).