Five African capitals have been listed among the worst liveable cities according to a global ranking released by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The capitals involved in descending order are:

Douala (Cameroon) ranked 132 out of 140
Harare (Zimbabwe) ranked 133 out of 140
Algiers (Algeria) ranked 134 out of 140
Lagos (Nigeria) ranked 138 out of 140
Tripoli (Libya) ranked 139 out of 140

About the report and its format
The report is titled ‘Global Liveability Ranking (GLR),’ provides scores for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities worldwide.

The GLR is part of the EIU’s ‘Worldwide Cost of Living Survey,’ which quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle across five broad categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.
What accounts for deteriorating cities?

The EIU reports that liveability had slumped in 20% of the 140 cities surveyed (i.e. 29 cities). It cited factors such as increased fears of terrorism with high profile attacks in European cities like Paris, Istanbul, Brussels and Berlin.

Social unrest in American cities were also a factor to deteriorating cities ‘‘due to the deaths of black people in police custody, tensions in Eastern Europe and Asia and the ongoing civil wars in Ukraine, Syria and Libya have compounded the decline,’‘ EIU stated.

The top 10 liveable global cities were

Melbourne (Australia)
Vienna (Austria)
Vancouver (Canada)
Toronto (Canada)
Calgary (Canada)
Adelaide (Australia)
Perth (Australia)
Auckland (New Zealand)
Helsinki (Finland)
Hamburg (Germany)