Colombo descends to 10 worst cities in the world: Survey

Ranked 132 in the Economists Intelligence Unit survey out of 140 countries  

By Cheranka Mendis

Despite millions being spent on city beautification projects and claims that Colombo is one of the cleanest cities in the region, the capital city has fared badly in the annual Economists Intelligence Unit survey, earning a place among the bottom 10 cities of the world.

The Economic Intelligence Unit’s liveability survey which assesses living conditions in 140 cities around the world lists Sri Lanka in the bottom 10 of the league table with a rank as the 132nd country with a rate of 47.3 per cent.

It is said that part of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, a rating of relative comfort for 30 indicators, is assigned across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure.

The survey gives an overall rating of 0-100, where 1 is intolerable and 100 is ideal. The suggested liveability scale shows that those under the rating category of 50 or less are identified as cities with most aspects of living severely restricted.



According to the survey, Sri Lanka has fallen two steps behind from the rank as 130 with a rating of 48 per cent in 2009. In 2008 Sri Lanka was ranked 131 with an index of 48.1 per cent, in 2007 as the 136th with an index of 66.3 per cent and in 2006 as the 120th with an index/rating of 73.6 per cent.

Special Commissioner of the Colombo Municipal Council Omar Kamil declined to comment without going through the entire publication, which is for sale on the Economic Intelligence Unit website. Urban Development Council (UDC) Chairman Janaka Kurukulasuriya could not be contacted for comment.

The other countries with Sri Lanka at the bottom 10 are Harare of Zimbabwe, Dhaka of Bangladesh, Port Moresby of Papua New Guinea, Lagos of Nigeria, Algiers of Algeria, Karachi of Pakistan, Douala of Cameroon, Tehran of Iran and Dakar of Senegal.

Right on top as the world’s most liveable city for the fifth straight year is Vancouver, while Melbourne claimed second place from Vienna. Australian and Canadian cities dominated the list’s top 10 spots. In the survey, the Canadian west coast city and 2010 Winter Olympics host scored 98 per cent on a combination of stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure – a score which stands unchanged from last year.

The unit mentions that “although Melbourne pipped the Austrian capital for silver medal, there was no other major change near the top of the list of 140 cities worldwide. Auckland, New Zealand, came in 10th.”

“Mid-sized cities in developed countries with relatively low population densities tend to score well by having all the cultural and infrastructural benefits on offer with fewer problems related to crime or congestion,” said Jon Copestake, Editor of the report, in a statement.

BOX

Bottom 10 cities

Rank  Country City Rating

130 Senegal Dakara 48.3

132 Sri Lanka Colombo 47.3

133 Nepal Kathmandu 47.1

134 Cameroon Douala 43.3

135 Pakistan Karachi 40.9

136 Nigeria Lagos 39.0

137 PNGPort Moresby 38.9

138 Algeria Algiers 38.7

138 Bangladesh Dhaka 38.7

140 Zimbabwe Harare 37.5

Dakar shares its rank with Tehran (Iran).