Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Mar 26: Here's some good news for Mangalureans. The city has been ranked 41 in terms of quality of life in a global list, making it the best in India.

The rankings for 2017 were published by Numbeo, an independent user-generated global database, in its website.

What's more, in terms of healthcare, Mangaluru is ranked 12th best in the world, beating even some of the major cities in countries like Australia, the UK and Japan. The fact that Mangaluru is home to some of India's most sought-after medical colleges and hospitals lends credibility to this ranking.

In terms of quality of life, Mangaluru is ranked 41, bettering even San Francisco which is ranked 42. The city at the top of the list is Canberra, Australia, while Caracas, Venezuela is ranked at the bottom with a rank of 143. Mangaluru, in fact, is ranked second best in Asia, after Bursa in Turkey. Surprisinly, Dubai is ranked 9th best in Asia and Abu Dhabi 5th best.

Among other Indian cities, Pune ranks 77, Hyderabd 96, Bengaluru 108, Gurgaon 112, Chennai 128, Delhi 130, Kolkata 138, and Mumbai 139. Overall, India ranks 51 among list of countries.

This data, however, is in stark contrast with that published by Mercer recently, which placed Hyderabad at the top among Indian cities in terms of quality of life. 

Quality of life index

Healthcare index

According to the website, quality of life index (higher the better) is an estimation of overall quality of life by using empirical formula which takes into account purchasing power index (higher the better), pollution index (lower the better), house price to income ratio (lower the better), cost of living index (lower the better), safety index (higher the better), health care index (higher the better), traffic commute time index (lower the better) and climate index (higher the better).

In healthcare, Chennai ranks 35, Hyderabad 65, Bengaluru 68, Pune 77, Delhi 89, Mumbai 98, and Kolkata 126.

Healthcare index is an estimation of the overall quality of the healthcare system, healthcare professionals, equipment, staff, doctors, cost, etc. However, the website adds that healthcare and other sub-sections like climate index are based on surveys from visitors of the website. Questions for this surveys are similar to many similar scientific and government surveys.

In terms of pollution levels, Mangaluru is among the least polluted cities in the world. As many as 39 Indian cities are listed here, with Faridabad ranked the most polluted in India with a ranking of 3. Bengaluru is ranked 34 in this list.

When it comes to traffic, Kolkata tops the list, with Mumbai ranked 3rd and Bengaluru 15th. Here, Mangaluru ranks 122, between Brussels (Belgium) and Zagreb (Croatia).

The above are current rankings on the parameters published in the website, which vary from historical rankings on the same parameters. Under historical indeces, Mangaluru ranks 48 in terms of quality of life (still the lone Indian city among top 50), and 29th in terms of healthcare.

Whether these surveys are reliable or not is a question asked by the online community, especially as the results are said to be based on user response to the Numbeo website. Nevertheless, let us rejoice in the fact that Mangaluru being the beautifful city that it is, has been ranked the best in India. That's something all true-blue Mangalureans would definitely agree on! A great way indeed to start its journey towards becoming a Smart City.