Lowest ... Damascus, Syria, has dramatically dropped in the world livability rankings due to the ongoing conflict within the nation. Picture: AP Source: AP
MELBOURNE may have topped the most list of most liveable cities yet again, but little has been written on the bottom 10.
Wars, famine, economic crisis and general unrest have contributed to many of the world’s cities becoming undesirable as living spaces — including one Western European city, which has fallen outside basic livability parameters for the first time.
Wars, famine, economic crisis and general unrest have contributed to many of the world’s cities becoming undesirable as living spaces — including one Western European city, which has fallen outside basic livability parameters for the first time.
This year, Damascus in Syria has drawn the short straw as the world’s worst city, closely followed by Kiev in Ukraine, Tripoli in Libya, Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
Lowest ... Damascus, Syria, has dramatically dropped in the world livability rankings due to the ongoing conflict within the nation. Picture: AP Source: AP
Unsurprisingly, what lowered the standards of Damascus was the conflict raging within, resulting in a drop of 27 points in the past five years to a total score of 29.3 out of 100.
To put it in perspective, Melbourne scored 97.5.
The rating assesses which locations in the world provide the best and worst living conditions.
Economic weakness and conflict, for instance, are considered very detrimental to the overall livability score of a city, and have contributed to the fall of several cities this year.
Other factors taken into consideration include provision and access to health care, safety, educational resources, infrastructure and the environment.
Unsafe ... Kiev ranked 132 out of 140 due to the continued fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Ukraine’s Kiev has also suffered a drop in the last 12 months due to its ongoing conflict with Russia, resulting in it being placed 132 out of the 140 cities surveyed.
Russia’s two biggest cities, Moscow and St Petersburg, have also lost credibility due to the country’s involvement in the conflict with Ukraine.
And while Athens may not be embroiled in war, its ongoing economic crisis and resulting austerity measures have seen it become the only city in Western Europe to fall outside the top tier of livability.
Fallen ... Athens in Greece has become theonly city in Western Europe to fall outside the top tier of livability. Picture: APSource: AP
The survey’s editor, Jon Copestake, said that “threat to personal safety, whether in the form of crime, unrest or conflict, has knock-on implications for other aspects of livability”.
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