Vietnam’s capital city of Hanoi and southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City are among the five biggest improvers of quality of life over the past five years, according to the Global Liveability Index 2018 of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) – a research and analysis division of the UK-based Economist Group.

A corner of Hanoi

This year, Hanoi was ranked 107th out of the 140 surveyed countries with 59.7 points, up 5.5 percentage points, while HCM City came in 116th with 57.1 points, up 4.4 percentage points.

The rapid economic development along with the higher scores in the fields of recreational and art activities, private education, and road infrastructure were the main factors that helped the Vietnamese cities increase their places in the ranking.

The ten most liveable cities are Vienna (Austria), Melbourne (Australia), Osaka (Japan), Calgary (Canada), Sydney (Australia), Vancouver (Canada), Toronto (Canada), Tokyo (Japan), Copenhagen (Denmark) and Adelaide (Australia).

Those that score the best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries, according to the survey.

Several cities in the top ten also have relatively low population density. This can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure.

The ten least liveable cities are Dakar (Senegal), Algiers (Algeria), Douala (Cameroon), Tripoli (Libya), Harare (Zimbabwe), Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Karachi (Pakistan), Lagos (Nigeria), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Damascus (Syria).

The survey of liveable cities is conducted annually based on various criteria such as stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.-VNA