Manila, Philippines was ranked the 206th best city to live in out of the 1,000 largest cities in the world based on several metrics that include quality of life and environment, according to the 2025 Global Cities Index released by independent economic advisory firm Oxford Economics.

Graded across the key metrics, Manila was ranked 206th overall after it was ranked 158th in economics, 93rd in human capital, 373rd in quality of life, 30th in environment, and 604th in governance.

It is possible that the study may be referring to Metro Manila or the National Capital Region as a whole, however, because it also includes "Manila" in the list’s 25 “Developing Megacities,” or large urban areas with over 10 million residents with infrastructure investments that have “often struggled to keep up with increasing population,” and “have low levels of income per person.”

Rankings were determined after total scores for each category were normalized, with the overall score calculated by taking a weighted average—economics with 30%, human capital with 25%, quality of life with 25%, environment with 10%, and governance with 10%.

“The indicators included in the Global Cities Index are not an exhaustive list of the characteristics to consider when comparing cities. Rather, they are among what we believe to be the most relevant traits, as well as a reflection of the harmonized data available at the city level across 163 countries,” the report read.

“The result is an overall score for each of the 1,000 Global Cities that considers not only the city’s economic performance, but also how well educated it is, the wellbeing of its residents, the volatility of its climate, any political risks facing the city, and much more,” it added.

Another Philippine city included in this year’s list was Cebu City at 470th, which was also included in “Emerging Standouts” or cities that outperform their respective countries, and attract residents due to their “fast productivity growth,” and higher levels of income per person than the national average.

Also included were Angeles City at 488th, Bacolod City at 518th, Davao City at 519th, Cagayan de Oro City at 577th, Dagupan City at 581st, General Santos City at 835th, and Zamboanga City at 861st.

This year’s list was topped by New York in the United States, followed by London, United Kingdom; Paris, France; San Jose, US; Seattle, US; Melbourne, Australia; Sydney, Australia; Boston, US; Tokyo, Japan.

— BM, GMA Integrated News

Source: GMA Network.