Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Most liveable city in SEA

June 9, 2009

By Reico Wong

SINGAPORE is the most liveable place in South-east Asia, according to survey of 140 countries.

It also ranked number 54, above New York in 56th place, as the world's easiest city to live in in the latest survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

In the survey which examined five categories - stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure - Singapore got an overall score of 88.5, with 100 being the ideal rating.

A score of 80 or more indicates that the city will have 'few, if any, challenges to living standards'. A city which scores 50 or less will present 'daily challenges to living standards'.

Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta were placed 79th and 123rd respectively.

One interesting fact the survey revealed was the stark contrast in the liveability among Asia-Pacific countries.

While three countries in the region - Australia, New Zealand and Japan - accounted for eight out of the top 20 cities worldwide, nine Asian countries took the 10 spots in the bottom 20 cities in direct polarisation.

Dhaka, Bangladesh fared the worst in 138th place, and among the Southeast Asian city, Phnom Penh, Cambodia ranked the lowest in 128th place.

'The performance of Asian cities reflects the diverse levels of development throughout the region,' said Jon Copestake, editor of the report.

'Australian cities represent many of the best aspects of liveability while instability in countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh means that cities in South Asia fare much worse,' he added.

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