New Delhi: A global survey across 100 cities has found Mumbai to be the “most stressful” city to live in, ranking last on the list. Delhi is also among the bottom five, ranking 97 among 100.
Conducted by Germany-based wellness brand Vaay, the result of the survey was released Thursday.
The cities were analysed on a variety of indicators, ranging from governance to environment, finance and health. These indicators were further based on 15 parameters such as safety and security, gender and minority equality, socio-political stability, population density, pollution levels and weather patterns.
Reykjavik in Iceland, was found to be the world’s least stressful city, followed by Bern in Switzerland and Helsinki in Finland.
The top 100 cities for the survey were chosen based on their size and global significance, as well as the availability of reliable and comparable data.
“Our objective with this study is to show what cities can achieve for their citizens through effective governance, robust environmental policies and well-resourced social welfare systems,” said Finn Age Hänsel, co-founder of Vaay.
He added, “The aim is not to single out the cities which may lag behind in any of these areas, but rather highlight those which are leading examples of what can be done to improve the wellbeing of their inhabitants.”
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The stress metre
Two of the cities featured among the top 10 least stressful cities are from Austria (Innsbruck and Graz), while the other eight are from Iceland, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Denmark and Germany.
The top 10 most stressful cities are from India, Nigeria, Philippines, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Ukraine and Turkey.
Other major international cities that didn’t make it to the top 50 include Paris (ranked 62), London (ranked 69) and New York (ranked 75).
While Mumbai scored 1 out of a total of 100, Delhi scored 31.5 per cent.
The national capital was also found to be the city with the worst air quality and ranked 91 among 100 on the safety and security parameter. It also ranked 65 among cities with the least financial stress and 93 on the parameter of access to healthcare.
In terms of safety and security, Doha ranked the highest with a perfect 100 score. Reykjavik (Iceland) was found to have the cleanest air, followed by UK’s Edinburgh. Reykjavik also toped the list for gender equality, while Baghdad scored the lowest on that parameter.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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