Understanding Urban Livability: From Global Rankings to India’s Ease of Living Index

What makes a city truly livable? Is it the efficiency of public transport, the quality of healthcare, or the sense of safety you feel walking home at night? Urban livability has become a critical benchmark for cities worldwide, influencing everything from policy decisions to migration patterns. As more than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas-a figure expected to reach 70% by 2050-understanding what makes cities desirable places to live has never been more important.

What is livability? 🔗

Livability is a broad concept that represents community well-being and the characteristics that make a place desirable to live. While there is no universally standardized definition, livability generally encompasses factors like quality of life, health outcomes, personal safety, access to essential services, mobility options, and opportunities for social participation.

The concept goes beyond mere survival. A livable city provides its residents with opportunities to thrive-access to quality education, affordable healthcare, clean water, adequate housing, and green spaces for recreation. It also considers intangible aspects like cultural vibrancy, social cohesion, and the overall sense of belonging that residents experience.

Different organizations measure livability using varied frameworks, but they share common threads: the ability of a city to meet basic needs while also enhancing residents’ overall well-being and opportunities for personal growth.

The global livability ranking 🔗

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) publishes an annual Global Liveability Index that has become one of the most referenced benchmarks for urban quality of life. The index evaluates 173 cities worldwide based on five key categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

Assessment methodology 🔗

Each city is evaluated using 30 indicators spread across the five categories. Stability covers factors like crime rates, terrorism threats, and civil unrest. Healthcare examines the availability and quality of medical services. Culture and environment assess climate conditions, corruption levels, and cultural offerings. Education evaluates both public and private schooling options. Infrastructure looks at roads, public transport, housing quality, and telecommunications.

Cities receive scores between 0 and 100, with higher scores indicating better livability. Western European cities have consistently dominated the top positions, reflecting their widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk, and effective infrastructure.

Recent rankings and trends 🔗

Copenhagen claimed the top spot in the 2025 Global Livability Index, ending Vienna’s three-year run at number one. The Austrian capital slipped to joint second place after receiving lower scores for stability. Vienna had consistently topped the ranking due to its excellent healthcare, education, and infrastructure systems.

Global livability has remained relatively flat over the past year, with stability scores declining at a global level. Several Canadian cities, including Calgary, dropped significantly in rankings due to strains on their healthcare systems. UK cities like London, Manchester, and Edinburgh also fell after a period of social unrest.

Asian cities continue to improve their livability scores globally. Melbourne, Sydney, Osaka, and Auckland consistently feature in the top ten, representing strong performers from the Asia-Pacific region.

Livability in India: the Ease of Living Index 🔗

India has developed its own comprehensive framework to assess urban livability. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the Ease of Living Index in 2018 to help Indian cities systematically assess themselves against national and global benchmarks and encourage outcome-based approaches to urban planning and management.

Framework and pillars 🔗

The EoLI evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various urban development initiatives. It provides a comprehensive understanding of participating cities based on quality of life, economic ability, and sustainability and resilience. The assessment incorporates residents’ views through a Citizen Perception Survey.

The index examines outcomes through three main pillars spanning 13 categories: Quality of Life covers education, health, housing and shelter, water sanitation and solid waste management, mobility, safety and security, and recreation. Economic Ability assesses the level of economic development and economic opportunities. Sustainability evaluates environment, green spaces and buildings, energy consumption, and city resilience.

The framework uses 49 indicators under 13 categories, with the objective pillar accounting for 70% of the overall score and the Citizen Perception Survey contributing 30%. This combination ensures that both measurable outcomes and citizen experiences are captured.

Key findings and top performers 🔗

In the 2020 assessment, Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ category, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Surat. Shimla was ranked highest in ease of living among cities with less than one million population, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, and Kakinada.

A total of 111 cities participated in the assessment exercise, categorized into Million+ populated cities and Less than Million populated cities, along with all cities under the Smart Cities Program. Over 32 lakh citizens from 111 cities participated in the Citizen Perception Survey, making it a robust assessment of ground-level experiences.

The EoLI primarily seeks to accelerate India’s urban development outcomes, including the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. It promotes healthy competition among cities, encouraging them to learn from peers and advance their development trajectory.

International agendas for livable cities 🔗

Global frameworks provide guiding principles for transforming urban planning and governance toward more livable and sustainable pathways. Two key frameworks shape international discourse on urban development.

Sustainable Development Goal 11 🔗

SDG 11, titled “sustainable cities and communities,” aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it recognizes cities as critical to achieving broader sustainability objectives.

SDG 11 has 10 targets measured through 15 indicators. The seven outcome targets include ensuring safe and affordable housing, creating affordable and sustainable transport systems, promoting inclusive and sustainable urbanization, protecting cultural and natural heritage, reducing adverse effects of natural disasters, reducing environmental impacts of cities, and providing access to safe and inclusive green and public spaces.

Cities occupy just 3% of the Earth’s land but account for 60-80% of energy consumption and 75% of carbon emissions. This stark reality underscores why sustainable urban development is essential for addressing global environmental challenges.

The New Urban Agenda 🔗

The New Urban Agenda was adopted at the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) in Quito, Ecuador in October 2016. This was the first UN global summit on urbanization since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The New Urban Agenda sets global standards of achievement in sustainable urban development, rethinking how we build, manage, and live in cities. It draws together cooperation with committed partners, relevant stakeholders, and urban actors at all levels of government, as well as civil society and the private sector.

The New Urban Agenda provides guidance in planning, design, finance, development, governance, and management to address both challenges and opportunities of urbanization. It serves as a critical lever to accelerate achievement of the SDGs, recognizing that sustainable urbanization is a transformative force for achieving the 2030 Agenda.

Making cities work for everyone 🔗

Nearly 1.1 billion people lived in slums or slum-like conditions in urban areas as of 2022, with an additional 2 billion expected to face similar conditions over the next 30 years. This stark reality highlights why livability frameworks matter-they provide benchmarks and accountability mechanisms to ensure urban development benefits all residents.

Since October 2024, 131 countries reported having national and local disaster risk reduction strategies, up from 57 in 2015. This progress demonstrates that coordinated international frameworks can drive meaningful improvements in urban governance and resilience.

The intersection of global indices like the EIU ranking, national frameworks like India’s Ease of Living Index, and international agendas like SDG 11 creates a comprehensive ecosystem for measuring and improving urban livability. Each serves a different purpose-global benchmarking, national policy guidance, and international commitment-but all work toward the common goal of creating cities where people can thrive.

What do you think? How do you believe your city performs on livability measures? What changes would most significantly improve the quality of life in your urban area?

References

1. https://www.eiu.com/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Liveability_Index
3. https://www.sanskritiias.com/current-affairs/global-liveability-index-2024
4. https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/global-liveability-index
5. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/worlds-most-liveable-city-for-2025-revealed/1787714
6. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1702417
7. https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goal_11
9. https://www.urbanagendaplatform.org/new-urban-agenda-localize
10. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal11