Where Does Hyderabad Stand In Ease of Living?

New Delhi’s poor ranking – 65^th among 111 cities – at the recently unveiled Ease of Living Index came as a rude shock for many and gave its citizens little to cheer about and much to worry. While the City of Nizams, too, failed to make it to the top 20, its performance could still be termed satisfactory in comparison with the national capital. Hyderabad has managed to get the 27^th rank at the Centre’s index—this was the first time the government launched the index to rate the performance of Indian cities based on four key pillars and 15 categories.

While governance, social-economic and physical infrastructure are the key pillars taken into consideration, housing & inclusiveness and identity & culture are among the 15 categories based on which the rating was awarded.

For a city that is gaining popularity as a hub of affordable housing, Hyderabad’s performance in the housing & inclusiveness category, however, is disappointing. On a scale of 5, the city has got a .83 rating. Ghaziabad is the topper in this category, with its 2.82 rating.

The housing and inclusiveness category considers two core indicators to calculate the category index. It looks at the percentage of slums covered through formal housing and percentage of slums covered with basic services.

The city's rating in the public open spaces category is even lower. In comparison with Gandhinagar, which is the topper in this category with its 5 out of 5 rating, Hyderabad has scored a meagre 0.06, its worst performance in a category.

In the mixed land use and compactness category also, Hyderabad has fared poorly, with 0.9 rating. This is in contrast with the topper, Greater Mumbai, with its 4.75 score. A city's ranking on this category is based on the percentage share of mixed-use land to overall city land use and net density.

Unfortunately, the City of Nizams has also scored poorly in identity & culture (1.35 out of 6.25), transport & mobility (1.58 out of 5) and solid waste management (out of 1.87 out of 5).

However, Hyderabad’s 15.23 out of 16.7 in the governance category is something it could be proud of. After Navi Mumbai, Tirupati and Karim Nagar, Hyderabad is the fourth biggest performer in this category. Hyderabad has also got the sixth ranking in assured power supply category.

In safety and security, Hyderabad is ranked 21 in the list while it is placed on the 36^th spot in the water waste management category.  

In the education category, the city has got the 49th ranking with a score of 3.45 while it is placed on the 44^th spot in terms of health with a score of 3.63 (both out of 5). In economy & employment, Hyderabad is ranked 59^th on the index.  

On its efforts to reduce pollution, the city has got 60^th ranking. Hyderabad is ranked 67^th in assured water supply.