Kyiv ranked 118th in the annual Global Liveability Index 2018, released by the UK magazine the Economist on Aug. 13, with Ukraine’s capital the highest climber in the ranking, moving up 13 places since last year.
“This reflects infrastructure improvements in the city, greater stability, and a declining crime rate in Ukraine,” the Economist said in a short video.
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s global survey ranks 140 cities in five categories – infrastructure, stability, education, healthcare, and culture and environment. It analyzes which cities provide the best and worst living conditions.
Kyiv gained 56 points out of 100 in those criteria, compared to 47.8 in 2017.
“Over the past twelve months, Kyiv has also seen a significant improvement in liveability, reflecting
a pick-up in economic growth and relative political stability despite the Donbas conflict,” the survey said.
While showing some improvement, the Ukrainian capital is still among five biggest decliners in the ranking over the last five years, during which capital has dropped 12.6 liveability points. The economic turmoil caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine in the Donbas was the likeliest cause of the fall, the Economist said.
The authors of the report said Kyiv’s position in the ranking, with 50-60 points out of 100, indicated substantially constrained liveability.
Other cities that have shown big falls in the rankings in recent years are San Juan in Puerto Rico, Damascus in Syria, Caracas in Venezuela, and Asuncion in Paraguay.
Australia’s Melbourne in 2018 lost the title of the world’s most liveable city to Vienna, after a seven-year reign. The Austrian capital this year had a near-maximum score of 99.1 points.
