Islamist Terror, Crime Pushes UK Cities Down Global Desirability Ranking

Britain’s best-known cities have slipped down a global ranking for livability, and are now seen as some of Western Europe’s least desirable, thanks to rising crime and terror threats.

Manchester, one of the nation’s largest conurbations, fell eight places to 51 on the Economist’s international rankings of the world’s most desirable cities, while London was stuck mid-table at 53.

The deadly bombing at Manchester Arena in May was the main reason for its poorer showing while London was dragged down by high crime rates and congestion caused by over crowding.

Stockholm’s rating also fell after an Islamist terror attack in April.

The list assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions, and the UK was consistently outdone, with Australia and Canada dominating the top of the ranking.

Melbourne was declared the most liveable city in the world for the seventh year, followed by Vienna in Austria, and Vancouver and Toronto in Canada.

Jon Copestake, the editor of the survey, told The Telegraph: “Manchester has joined a number of European cities experiencing terror attacks over the last decade or so.

“Sadly this heightened state of alert has become the new normal for many cities but we are now in a situation where global declines have largely stabilised and even begun to register improvements.”

Violent crime in England and Wales surged by 18 per cent over 12 months between 2015 and 2016, and London has seen a spate of gang-related knife and acid attacks.

The capital was also hit by two deadly Islamist terror attack in the space of just a few weeks.

Explaining how cities are ranked, the study reads: “The concept of liveability is simple: it assesses which locations around the world provide the best or the worst living conditions.

“Every city is assigned a rating of relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories: stability; healthcare; culture and environment; education; and infrastructure.”