Delhi Slips Six Places in World's Most Liveable Cities Ranking; Here Are a Few Likely Reasons

The National Capital of India, Delhi, has disappointed the nation once again. The city has dropped by six places in the ranking of the world's most liveable cities, descending to rank 118th on the list. The ranking came in on Wednesday, September 4, after an annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit. While New Delhi has registered the biggest decline in Asia this year, dream city Mumbai also fell two places since last year to rank 119th on the list. The list is topped by Vienna, the capital city of Austria, for the second year in the row.

While Delhi still ranks above other Asian cities, including Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea (135th), Pakistan’s Karachi (136th) and Bangladesh’s Dhaka (138th), it is important to look at the factors responsible for the decline. As the annual Global Liveability Index stated, the decline in ranking for New Delhi was attributed primarily to an increase in petty crime cases, poor air quality, average temperature and water pollution.

The report read, “This year we also note the demonstrable impact of the effects of climate change on liveability. Several cities, such as New Delhi in India and Cairo in Egypt received substantial downgrades on their scores owing to problems linked to climate change, such as poor air quality, undesirable average temperatures and inadequate water provision.”

It added, “The Indian capital has seen an increase in petty crime cases over the past year, as well as recording some of the world’s worst air quality levels. The 2018 update to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Ambient Air Quality Database shows that New Delhi currently boasts the sixth-highest annual mean concentration of fine particulate matter among cities around the world.”