HK plummets in livability

Hong Kong has sunk to a low of No 77 in the rankings for the world's most livable cities for East Asian expats, down 19 places from last year, due to the city's Covid restrictions and reduced press freedom.

Strict border controls and anti-epidemic measures in the Asia-Pacific region, including Hong Kong, caused the region to slide in the latest livability rankings published by research firm ECA International.

"Hong Kong has seen a significant drop in our latest livability rankings, partly as a result of the increasing censorship of local news and media, impacting on the freedom of news and media aspect of the overall livability score," said Lee Quane, regional director Asia at ECA International.

At the same time, many cities which were ranked below Hong Kong last year, including Paris and London, have relaxed Covid- induced social distancing measures, resulting in their moving up global rankings and overtaking Hong Kong.

Updated annually in November, ECA's location ratings system evaluates a host of factors to assess the overall quality of living in over 490 locations worldwide.

Factors include climate, availability of health services, housing and utilities, natural phenomena, isolation, access to a social network and leisure facilities, infrastructure, personal safety, political tensions and air quality.

The impact of some of the factors can vary according to the home location of the assignee.

Singapore remained the most livable location in the world for expatriates from East Asia, although its overall livability score dropped due to a combination of very strict lockdown measures and increasing internet censorship.

This meant that the gap between Singapore, second-placed Wellington, New Zealand and third-placed Osaka, Japan, has shrunk.

But the Lion City retained its spot due to outstanding scores in international schooling, infrastructure and housing, Quane said.

"Macau, which remained one of the most sealed-off locations, dropped 30 places in our rankings in the past 12 months," Quane said.

"Similarly, many locations in India, which placed widespread restrictions on movement to combat the spread of Covid, fell in our rankings, as did many locations in China."

The highest placed Chinese city, Shanghai, now sits in 117th place while Zhengzhou saw the biggest fall in the mainland, dropping 14 places to 194th.

"Zhengzhou's fall was partly due to the severe impact of flooding which occurred in 2021," Quane said.

Taipei, normally a fixture in the top 50, went down the most.

It fell 31 places from last year to tie with Hong Kong as the 77th most livable location.

"Part of this fall was due to the ongoing effects of Covid restrictions reducing recreational activities for residents," Quane said.

"At the same time, it is witnessing a growing housing crisis in the city with a shortage of accommodation for Taipei's growing expatriate population."

Yangon, Myanmar, also saw a considerable fall, as the military junta continues its rule following a coup last year.

As a result, there has been a significant change in many factors for the scoring.

These include personal safety, socio-political tensions, freedom of the media and the availability of goods and services.

"Unlike in many other cases in the latest rankings, this, unfortunately, may not be a short-term trend that corrects itself in the near future," Quane said.

leone.xue@singtaonewscorp.com