Why Dhaka must improve its liveability

Infograph: TBS

Dhaka's ranking among the world's least liveable cities comes as little surprise. More alarming is that Bangladesh's capital remained the world's third least liveable city for the second consecutive year, ahead of only Tripoli and Damascus, extending a decline that has persisted since 2023 in the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Global Liveability Index.

In the 2025 index, Dhaka ranked 171st out of 173 cities, down three places from 168th in 2024. It had ranked 166th in each of the previous two years.

The capital fared even worse in 2012, when it was ranked the world's least liveable city. Over the following seven years, it consistently remained among the four worst-performing cities in the global index.

The latest rankings underscore Dhaka's deep-rooted urban challenges despite billions of taka invested in infrastructure over the years. Infrastructure remained the city's weakest area, receiving just 27 points out of 100 in the EIU assessment. Dhaka scored 45 for stability, 42 for healthcare, 41 for culture and environment, 67 for education, and 27 for infrastructure.

With an overall score of 42 out of 100 – the same as last year – Dhaka remains well below the global average liveability score of 76.1. This is despite a slight decline in the global average, largely driven by deteriorating stability amid geopolitical tensions, particularly conflicts in the Middle East.

The EIU said Asia recorded the greatest improvement among all regions, driven by higher healthcare scores in Chinese cities and gains in Japan. However, it noted that the regional average continued to be weighed down by low-scoring cities in its least-developed countries.

Copenhagen retained its title as the world's most liveable city for the second consecutive year, followed by Vienna and Melbourne.

The report suggests that while education remains a relative strength, persistent deficiencies in infrastructure, healthcare, and the broader urban environment continue to weigh heavily on Dhaka's overall liveability.

Among South Asian cities appearing at the bottom of the rankings, Karachi placed one position above Dhaka at 170th with a score of 43.

Despite Asia's overall improvement, the report underscores that the benefits have been unevenly distributed, with Dhaka continuing to lag far behind the regional average. Asia's average liveability score rose to 74, leaving Bangladesh's capital trailing by 32 points.

The report also points out a widening contrast within Asia, where several Chinese cities climbed the rankings after improvements in healthcare, while Tokyo advanced following gains in culture and environment.

By contrast, Dhaka remained among the world's least liveable cities, reflecting persistent structural weaknesses rather than the conflict-related deterioration experienced by several Middle Eastern cities.

Infrastructure remains weakest area

Dhaka scored 45 for stability, 42 for healthcare, 41 for culture and environment, 67 for education and just 27 for infrastructure, its lowest score across the five assessment categories.

The report suggests that education remains a relative strength, but persistent weaknesses in infrastructure, healthcare and the wider urban environment continue to undermine the city's overall liveability.

The EIU assesses 173 cities using more than 30 qualitative and quantitative indicators across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

Can Dhaka improve its score?

Though retained the same place, Dhaka, however, sees a slight improvement this year in healthcare, culture and environment, education and even in infrastructure.

It shows all is not lost yet and there is room for further improvement, as reflected in the latest government's makeover plan for congested Old Dhaka, taking care of housing, roads, heritage and open space. The new government also announced its plan to improve Dhaka's public transport system, integrating road, metrorail and waterway transportation.

City planners have said the plans, if implemented prudently, would improve livability in Dhaka that accounts for a fifth of national GDP and one-third of all jobs, according to a World Bank blog post. Low-income people, who mostly live in a city's congested areas, live 10 years less than high-income ones living in open, leafy areas, says a 2008 study published in The Lancet.

These low-wage workers are the main drivers of the city's life and business, and they need to live healthier to serve the city better.

The World Bank says cities are the engines of the global economy, generating the vast majority of global GDP and private-sector job creation. Cities generate 80% of global GDP and accounted for 88% of private sector job creation between 2010-2020. Today, more than half of the global population, over 4 billion people, live in cities.

By 2050, nearly 7 in 10 people worldwide will live in urban areas.

As urban populations grow, the ability of cities to generate jobs and drive development is increasingly critical, the global lender says.

Niklaus Graber, a Swiss Architect and founding partner of Graber & Steiger Architects based in Luzern, while acknowledging Dhaka's harsh living conditions, believes that the city is far from a lost cause. "In fact, Dhaka already possesses qualities that could help shape its future," he writes in an article for The Business Standard.

He appreciates Bengal's architectural heritage, with its verandas and semi-open markets – a philosophy reflected in the works of late Bangladeshi architect Muzharul Islam and also in infrastructures designed by Daniel Dunham, Robert Boughey and Louis I Kahn. These are all for making Dhaka a walkable, liveable city, he points out.

"Instead of mimicking the glass skyscrapers of Dubai or Singapore, Dhaka should embrace its unique strengths – its verandas, shaded courtyards, and vibrant street life," he suggests as to how Dhaka can become a truly future-oriented, "a living and breathing organism" built for and by its people.