Paris’ 'Liveability' Rating Sees Biggest Decline Due to Terror Attacks

The French capital’s rating as a city “pleasant to live in” saw the biggest plunge this year, dropping 28 places in a list of 140 cities largely due to the terrorist attacks that shook Paris and other places in France, a poll revealed Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The new Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey evaluates the so-called liveability of cities worldwide based on criteria including quality of healthcare, culture, environment, stability and infrastructure.

“Paris is another city that has seen a sharp decline in its ranking, due to a mounting number of terrorist attacks taking place in the city, and in other parts of the country, over the past three years,” the EIU said.

According to the poll, Paris’ rating dropped 3.7 percent – more than any other European city – having previously ranked 32nd out of the 140 assessed cities reviewed. The previous EIU Global Liveability Ranking poll carried out five years ago saw Paris in fourth place among the most desirable cities to live in.

This year's list was topped by Melbourne, followed Vienna and then Vancouver.

France has witnessed a series of deadly terrorist attacks over the past year, with a multiple terrorist attacks in November killing 130 in Paris and 84 people being killed in a July attack in Nice.