Abu Dhabi and Dubai retained their top positions as the most liveable cities in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region for the fifth consecutive year in 2023.
According to Economist Intelligence Unit, the other cities that made it to the top 10 list are Tel Aviv, Kuwait City, Doha, Bahrain, Muscat, Riyadh, Amman and Jeddah.
The study ranks conditions in 173 cities across five categories – stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
In January, Resonance Consultancy ranked Dubai first regionally and fifth globally best city in the world based on the categories of prosperity, safety, landmarks and outdoor activities among others. The authorities aim to make the UAE cities not just top places to work but also the best destination to live.
The global list of best places to live is dominated by the Canadian, European and Australian cities with Vienna topping followed by Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver, Zurich, Calgary, Geneva, Toronto, Osaka and Auckland. While least liveable cities are Damascus, Tripoli, Algiers, Lagos, Karachi, Port Moresby, Dhaka, Harare, Kyiv and Douala.
“Living conditions in cities across the world have fully recovered from the deterioration caused by the Covid-19 pandemic... Cities in the Asia-Pacific region have rebounded the most. The index also suggests that life in cities is a bit better than at any time in the past 15 years,” it said.
Of the five categories covered by the survey, only the stability score dropped on average in 2023, mainly due to striking workers in Greece, pension protests in France and deadly clashes in Israel and Peru.
However, the study warned that inflation could lead to further falls in stability scores, and thus damage overall liveability scores, in many parts of the world over the next year.
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Waheed Abbas is Assistant Editor, covering real estate, aviation and other business stories that dir...