The Economist's Most Liveable Cities' Report: “Algiers among Five Worst Cities in the World”

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s most recent liveability report classifies Algiers among the five worst cities in the world, in terms of living conditions, thus it show the miserable situation of Algeria’s capital.

Algiers ranked in the bottom of the list along with ten cities, including Nigeria’s capital “Lagos”, Zimbabwe’s “Harare”, Pakistan’s “Karache”, Libya’s “Tripoli” and Iran’s “Tehran”.

Algiers ranked 135 with 40.6 points, just like it ranked in 2011.

Algeria ranks before four cities, of the total 140 cities that were surveyed, namely Lagos and Harare, while Tunis ranked 104, and Casablanca ranked 112th.

UAE, Abu Dabi came at the forefront of Arab cities, as it ranked 79 globally. Bahrain’s capital “Manama” ranked second in the Arab world and 80 globally, Qatar, Doha is third among Arab countries and 85 globally. Kuwait ranked 90 and Jordan, Oman ranked 102.

The world’s most livable cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on a reputable annual survey of living conditions. Two examples are the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Report.

Liveability rankings are designed for use by employers assigning hardship allowances as part of job relocation. There have been numerous arguments over the expansion of livability rankings for other purposes. However, the annual city rankings attract extensive media coverage, are a popular topic of discussion and have attracted the attention of even the White House.

The Economist Intelligence Unit’s most recent liveability report shows cities in Canada, Australia, Austria, Finland and New Zealand as the ideal destinations, thanks to a widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk, and an effective infrastructure. It does not take into account climate or the cost of living as a factor in ‘liveability.’ The Economist Intelligence Unit has been criticized by the New York Times for being overly anglocentric, stating that “The Economist clearly equates livability with speaking English.”

The August 2012 report placed Melbourne,Australia as the most livable city in the world, with Vienna, Austria taking second place, followed by Vancouver, Canada, unchanged from the top three the previous year.There was controversy related to the lowering of Vancouver’s rating due to traffic congestion, as the example given was a location on the Malahat Highway, 90 kilometers away from the city and on Vancouver Island. A clarifying statement on the website stated that “The Malahat closures were meant to provide an example of the congestion that has affected the region as a whole.”

Other Canadian cities also ranked highly in the survey, with Toronto holding the 4th position, and Calgary tied with Adelaide at 5th. Two other Australian cities, Sydney at 7th and Perth at 9th, were ranked among the top ten.