DHAKA has slumped even further in the 2025 Global Liveability Index, now ranked the third least liveable city. Of the 173 cities assessed, only Damascus and Tripoli, both devastated by protracted conflict, fared worse than Dhaka. The city of 20 million people received a score of 41.7 out of 100, a decline from position of the sixth worst in the past index and the year before when it was the seventh. Dhaka now ranks alongside cities where the very fabric of civic life has collapsed. The index measures liveability across five key categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. While Copenhagen, Vienna, Zurich and Melbourne continue to lead because of strong governance and coherent urban policy, Dhaka鈥檚 worsening performance speaks volumes about the failures in planning, coordination and political will. Urban experts, including the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, have repeatedly warned that the city鈥檚 woes stem not from a lack of resources but from decades of neglect, short-termism and the absence of a national urban vision. The government, however, continues to issue ambitious urban slogans with little correlation to the lived experiences of citizens.
The breakdown of Dhaka鈥檚 score tells a more layered story. It has received 45 in stability and 66.7 in education, which appear respectable but fail to reflect systemic exclusion, institutional gaps and geographic imbalances. Health care scored 41.7, highlighting an overstretched system marked by insufficient public provision, high out-of-pocket expenses and disparities between central and peripheral areas. The most deplorable, however, is the infrastructure score, 26.8, which encapsulates the city鈥檚 crumbling roads, chaotic public transport, inadequate housing, unreliable utilities and an absence of accessible public spaces. The low score in culture and environment is also symptomatic of Dhaka鈥檚 decline into an unbreathable, unwalkable and disjointed urban mass, where pollution, noise and congestion dominate public life. While other major cities have moved towards decentralisation and transit-oriented development, Dhaka remains centralised and top-heavy. The lack of coordination between various agencies has resulted in patchwork responses, duplicated initiatives and policy paralysis. Urban experts have rightly pointed out that decentralisation based on economic zones, coupled with ecological restoration and inclusive urban renewal, is essential. Without a fundamental shift in how Dhaka is conceived and managed, no volume of investment or infrastructure project will reverse this reputational and practical decline.
The government and city authorities should urgently prioritise structural reforms and policy coherence over disjointed large-scale projects. Citizens need breathable air, navigable streets, functioning drains and coordinated, accountable governance. Until then, Dhaka鈥檚 standing in such global rankings would continue to reflect the worsening quality of life.