A year ago in this newsletter I wrote, “It will be a relief if the [liveable-cities] index in 2026 shows that the world remains as liveable as it is now.” In a way I got my wish: the latest global average liveability score held steady at 76.1 out of 100, the same as in 2025. But drill down into the regions and it looks less stable.

Cities across the Middle East, from Doha to Dubai, dropped down the ranking after they were caught up in the Iran war. Muscat, Oman’s capital, performed the worst, plummeting 14 places. And war-torn Tehran joined war-torn Damascus in the bottom ten. Health-care improvements in every Chinese city in the index helped balance out these plunging scores. As much as I’d love to predict an improvement in liveability over the coming year, given the volatility in the Middle East I’d settle for an uneventful year of stolidity.

They have grown at a blistering pace, but lack proper political representation. The Economist examines the problem and what can be done to fix it.