A list of some key resources for comparing London with other world cities.

European Union/Eurostat, Urban Audit

Arcadis, Sustainable cities index

AT Kearney, Global Cities Index

McKinsey, Urban world: Mapping the economic power of cities

Knight Frank, Wealth report

OECD, Better Life Index

UNODC, Statistics on drugs, crime and criminal justice at the international level

Economist, Hot Spots

Economist, Global Liveability Ranking and Report August 2014

Mercer, Quality of Living Reports

PWC, Cities of opportunity

BCG, Decoding Global Talent

Forbes, World's most influential cities

Mastercard, Global Destination Cities Index

Numbeo, Database of user contributed data

In 2024, Sudan was ranked as the most miserable country in the world, with a misery index score of 374.8. Argentina ranked second with an index score of 195.9. Quality of life around the worldThe misery index was created by the economist Arthur Okun in the 1960s. The index is calculated by adding the unemployment rate, the lending rate and the inflation rate minus percent change of GDP per capita. Another famous tool used for the comparison of development of countries around the world is the Human Development Index, which takes into account such factors as life expectancy at birth, literacy rate, education level and gross national income (GNI) per capita. Better economic conditions correlate with higher quality of life Economic conditions affect the life expectancy, which is much higher in the wealthiest regions. With a life expectancy of 85 years, Liechtenstein led the ranking of countries with the highest life expectancy in 2023. On the other hand, Nigeria was the country with the lowest life expectancy, where men were expected to live 55 years as of 2024. The Global Liveability Index ranks the quality of life in cities around the world, basing on political, social, economic and environmental aspects, such as personal safety and health, education and transport services and other public services. In 2024, Vienna was ranked as the city with the highest quality of life worldwide.

UNDP first published the Human Development Report in 1990 in collaboration with economist Mehboob Haque, who is credited as the promoter of the HDI Index. The most important aspects of the HDI Index are longevity, healthy living, educational attainment, and quality of life as well as other important factors such as political independence, human rights, and self-respect. UNDP's Human Development Report is a combination of three principles. That is.
1) Life expectancy at birth.
2) Level of education. (Rate of adult education, rate of primary, secondary, higher education)
3) The standard of living. (GDP per capita based on USD)
The HDI index is averaged based on the maximum and minimum values of these three elements. According to the report, India was ranked 126th in the HDI Index in 2006. In 2008, Maxine Olson, UNDP Representative in India, and Motek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, published the Human Development Report in Delhi, in which India was ranked 128th (Value 0.619). Compared to 2006, India has slipped two places.

В этом разделе представлен актуальный (периодически обновляемый в соответствии с последними результатами исследования) список стран мира, упорядоченных по Индексу качества жизни. Данные с результатами последнего исследования опубликованы в 2005 году.

As per the Global Liveability Index of 2024, five Indian cities figured on the list comprising 173 across the world. Indian megacities Delhi and Mumbai tied for 141st place with a score of **** out of 100. They were followed by Chennai (****), Ahmedabad (****), and Bengaluru (****). What are indicators for livability The list was topped by Vienna for yet another year. The index measures cities on five broad indicators such as stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. As per the Economic Intelligence Unit’s suggestions, if a city’s livability score is between ** to ** then “livability is substantially constrained”. Less than ** means most aspects of living are severely restricted. Least Liveable cities on the index The least liveable cities were in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa regions. Damascus and Tripoli ranked the lowest. Tel Aviv also witnessed significant drop due to war with Hamas.

Since 2003, the World Bank publishes the Ease of Doing Business (EDB) Index aimed at measuring the regulatory efficiency and institutional quality of key processes that affect the business environment in a given economy. While highly influential, particularly in the developing world, the EDB has also been faced with criticism and at times controversies. In 2020, the World Bank decided to interrupt temporarily the publication of the EDB report as a result of an audit that revealed politically motivated manipulation of EDB rankings. Over time, Canada’s relative rankings fell from 4th in 2007 to 23rd in 2020 with no significant changes in its business environments or policies. Canada’s rank fall can only be partially explained as other economies such as Georgia and Mauritius surpassed Canada with higher overall rankings. To understand the underlying causes of Canada’s rank declining, the Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) commissioned a study to look at Canada’s performance in all 10 areas of the EDB Index. The study also looked at other competitiveness and economic freedom indices (e.g. IMD World Competitiveness Index, World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness report and the Fraser Institute Index of Economic Freedom) and found no such decline in Canada`s performance.

Based on a wide variety of categories, the top major global smart cities were ranked using an index score, where a top index score of 10 was possible. Scores were based on various different categories including transport and mobility, sustainability, governance, innovation economy, digitalization, living standard, and expert perception. In more detail, the index also includes provision of smart parking and mobility, recycling rates, and blockchain ecosystem among other factors that can improve the standard of living. In 2019, Zurich, Switzerland was ranked first, achieving an overall index score of 7.75. Spending on smart city technology is projected to increase in the future.

Smart city applications Smart cities use data and digital technology to improve the quality of life, while changing the nature and economics of infrastructure. However, the definition of smart cities can vary widely and is based on the dynamic needs of a cities’ citizens. Mobility seems to be the most important smart city application for many cities, especially in European cities. For example, e-hailing services are available in most leading smart cities. The deployment of smart technologies that will incorporate mobility, utilities, health, security, and housing and community engagement will be important priorities in the future of smart cities.