Three Indian cities made it to a list that ranks 113 cities across the globe in terms of economic and social inclusivity. The list has been released by the Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA), which is a first-ever Index to rank the cities not just on the basis of their size or health of their economy, but also the affordability of housing and access to healthcare and education. To put it simply, the PICSA provides a holistic account of how well people are doing in the economy.
Now that we’ve told you all about how this list was prepared, can you guess the Indian cities that were featured on the list?
*Drumroll*
Here are the names–Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi have been featured in the index. Now, we are a little curious how and why Delhi has been featured on the list. While Bengaluru ranked at 83 in the index, Delhi and Mumbai were at 101 and 107 respectively.
The PICSA index was released on November 21 in Basque Country in northern Spain. Commissioned by Basque institutions and compiled by D&L Partners, the PICSA Index measures factors such as the affordability of housing and access to education and healthcare, besides GDP per capita. According to Director of Strategic Programmes at the Regional Council of Biscay, Asier Alea Castanos, some of the factors that are crucial are quality of life, housing affordability and health alongside jobs, skills and income.
As far as health is concerned, Delhi just doesn’t make the cut. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city has been in the ‘severe’ category for quite some time now. The noxious air is taking a serious toll on people’s health, especially children. So much so that the schools and colleges were shut down due to the air emergency in the Indian capital. In fact, public emergency was declared earlier this month. And According to a recent report by India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU), the city’s air quality is so bad that it may cut the life expectancy of Delhiites short by 17 years. Could it get any worse?
You agree, right? But, curiously, Delhi is still on a global ‘inclusive prosperity’ index.
Zurich in Switzerland has topped the list as it scored strongly across all the factors, especially work, housing, safety, education and leisure (with the Swiss higher education system attaining a very high score.) Vienna in Austria stood at the second place with healthcare scoring top marks. Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Helsinki complete the top five list. Bilbao, which is the host city of the new index, is ranked at 20.
Stressing on the importance of such an index, Dr Bruno Lanvin, Founder and CEO at D&L Partners, said, “By measuring performance of cities across different pillars of inclusive prosperity, as the PICSA Index does, policymakers can identify high performers in specific domains and establish roadmaps of best practices.”
Well, we really hope the policymakers get to see a clear picture.
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