This map uses annual rankings from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to display the world’s most sustainable cities, measuring different categories such as: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
A quick note on methodology
The ranking attempts to assess which cities around the world provide the best living conditions by assigning a score to 30 quantitative and qualitative measures in the five categories with the following weightings: Of the 30 factors in these categories, the qualitative ones are rated as acceptable, tolerable, uncomfortable, undesirable, or intolerable by a panel of expert analysts. Quantitative measures are given a score based on a number of external data points. Everything is then weighted to give a score between 1-100, with 100 being ideal.
Ranking: The 10 most trusted cities
Of the 172 cities included in the ranking, many of the most liveable cities are located in Europe. However, three of the top 10 are in Canada: Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Vienna has been ranked number one several times, most recently in 2019. According to the EIU, the Austrian capital fell from the top spot during the pandemic years only because famous museums and restaurants were closed. RANKCITYCOUNTRYSCORE #1VIENNAR AUSTRIA99.1 #2COPENHAGEN🇩🇰 Denmark98.0 #3ZURICH 🇨🇭 SWITZERLAND96.3 #3CALGARY🇨🇦 CANADA96.3 #5VANCOUVER🇨🇦 CANADAN96.1 #6GENEVA🇨🇭 SWITZERLAND96.3 #6. #8Toronto🇨🇦 Canada95.4 #9Amsterdam🇳🇱 Netherlands95.3 #10Osaka🇯🇵 Japan95.1 #10Melbourne🇦🇺 Australia95.1 Only one Asian city, Osaka, makes the top 10 list, tied with Melbourne for 10th place. Notably, not a single US city is in the top ranks. Editor’s Note: Two cities tied for both the #3 and #10 rankings, meaning the “top 10” list actually includes 12 cities.
Ranking: The 10 least livable cities
Some of the world’s least sustainable cities are in Africa and Central Asia. RANKCITYCOUNTRYSCORE #163TEHRAN🇮🇷 IRAN44.0 #164DOUALA🇨🇲 CAMEROON43.3 #165HARARE🇿🇼 ZIMBABWE40.9 #166DHAKA🇧🇩 BANGLADESH39.2 #167PORT MORESBY🇵🇬 PAPUA NEW GUINEA 38.8 #168KARACHI🇵🇰 PAKINATIAN37.5 #169 ARGERIH .0 # 170Tripoli🇱🇾 Libya34.2 #171Lagos🇳🇬 Nigeria32.2 #172Damascus🇸🇾 Syria30.7 Many of the less sustainable cities are located in conflict zones, which contributes to the low score. However, these regions are also home to some of the fastest growing cities in the world, presenting many opportunities for ambitious residents.
The biggest changes in the rankings
Let’s take a look at the cities that rose most dramatically in the global rankings compared to last year’s data. Moving Up: The 10 Most Improved Cities CityCountry Overall Rank Change Frankfurt🇩🇪 Germany#7+32 Hamburg🇩🇪 Germany#16+31 Dusseldorf🇩🇪 Germany#22+28 London🇬🇧 UK#33+27 Manchester🇬🇧#26+UK 23 Brussels🇧🇪 Belgium#24+ 22 Amsterdam🇳🇱 Netherlands#9+21 Athens🇬🇷 Greece#73+19 Los Angeles🇺🇸 USA#37+18 Here’s a look at the cities that fell the most in the rankings from last year’s report. Moving Down: The 10 Cities That Collapsed CityCountry Overall Rank Change Wellington🇳🇿 New Zealand#50-46 Auckland🇳🇿 New Zealand#34-33 Adelaide🇦🇺 Australia#30-27 Perth🇦🇺 Australia#32-26 Lakeland🇳🇿 New Zealand#34-33 Adelaide 48-25 Madrid🇪🇸 Spain#43-24 Taipei🇹🇼 Taiwan#53-20 Barcelona🇪🇸 Spain#35-19 Brisbane According to the report, some cities in New Zealand and Australia temporarily fell in the rankings due to the COVID-19 restrictions. It’s also worth noting that some Eastern European cities dropped in the ranking due to their close proximity to the war in Ukraine. Finally, Kyiv was not included in this year’s report due to the conflict.
Urbanization and Sustainability
As of 2021, approximately 57% of the world’s population lives in urban centers and projections show that people around the world will continue to move to cities. While there are more amenities in urban areas, the pandemic has revealed many problems with urbanization and the concentration of large populations. Stress on healthcare systems is becoming more acute in cities and restrictions on public outings are some of the first measures to be taken in the face of a global health crisis. Now with the cost of living rising, cities may face pressures on their quality of life and governments may be forced to cut spending on public services. Regardless, people around the world continue to see the benefits of city living—more than two-thirds of the world’s population is projected to live in cities by 2050.
