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Most places in the world seem upside down and sideways up right now.

It’s not just South Africa, folks, I promise.

In that case, almost everyone everywhere is dreaming about greener pastures, wondering what it might be like to live in a new city. Although it is impossible to escape struggle, a new city with new problems holds the hope that at least the issues will be new, or even perhaps ones that won’t affect you. Wink at that privilege peeping around the corner right now.

If you’re one of the people with a ‘Give Up Everything And Move To A New City’ list, then it will be wise to consider the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index – basically, a list of the best places to live around the world.

The EIU offers deep insight and analysis of the economic and political developments in the increasingly complex global environment; identifying opportunities, trends, and risks on a global and national scale, it notes in the Index report.

Hello! India reported that the survey closely reviewed 173 cities from February 13, 2022, to March 12, 2023, and rated these for 30 factors in five categories, including stability, healthcare, infrastructure, culture, and education. A team of expert analysts and contributors from each city were consulted for cultural subtleties that could affect the cities’ rankings.

“The removal of COVID-19-related restrictions has overall boded well for global liveability in 2023,” said Upasana Dutt, the head of EIU’s Liveability Index, in a statement.

“Education has emerged stronger with children returning to schools alongside a significantly reduced burden on hospitals and health care systems, with some notable improvements in cities across developing economies of Asia and the Middle East. As the world’s political and economic axis continues to shift eastwards, we expect the cities in these regions to move slowly up our liveability rankings.”

So the best place to live in the whole entire world is apparently Vienna in Austria:

Vienna has been able to retain its top spot on the list for eight of the last 10 semi-annual surveys.

“The Austrian capital slipped down our rankings in 2021 when its famous museums and restaurants faced restrictions to contain the pandemic, but this was a rare slip-up,” said the report. “The city continues to offer an unsurpassed combination of stability, good infrastructure, strong education, and health care services, and plenty of culture and entertainment.”

Then, Denmark’s capital city Copenhagen was declared the runner-up, with Australian cities Melbourne and Sydney placed at number three and four, respectively, followed by Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Zurich, Osaka, and Auckland.

Image: EIU

On the other side of the coin, the worst places in the world are as follows:

See, South Africa is not nearly as bad as we sometimes think.

[source:hellomagazineindia]