Uploaded on 2017-02-16 by Rukmini Mukherjee

1. Based on my experience and judgement, the 5 most livable cities are:Vienna, Zurich, Stockholm, Singapore and Tokyo. 2. The most important characteristics of a liveable city may be: safety, infrastructure, cost of living, environmental conditions, and stability. 3. The city of Kolkata is one of the least livable metros in India according to various surveys. From the viewpoint of safety, it is still comparatively safer than the other metros. But with rapidly developing areas of the territory, there are more gated colonies and rise in crime rates. The low cost of living is one of the reasons the city is a preferred region for the working population.With better affordability across lifestyles as well as fulfilling housing needs for all strata of the society, Kolkata has retained the tag of a 'cheap city' through a decade. Infrastructure development has been a concern with the explosive growth along the city periphery. Due to extensive construction of flyovers, provision of rapid public transportation systems, energy and water supply, such issues are expected to abate with better planning. The environmental conditions have been extremely hazardous, with Kolkata having one of the most polluted air, apart from Delhi in India. Increasing industrialization, exhaust from vehicles and generated heat from cooling systems, along with noise pollution need addressing. Kolkata used to be a hub of instability due to frequent political clashes and civilian as well as communal riots. With time, this trend has decreased, but still act as deterrent to the stability and development to the territory. The government needs to take up initiatives with active stakeholder and beneficiary participation to address these issues. Better recycling and reuse of waste needs to be incorporated in the waste management system, in order to improve sustainability and achieve resilience through planning.