In a startling revelation, Singapore has emerged as one of the least exciting among 32 cities from around the world, according to the latest survey of Time Out’s Life Index 2018.
The survey has been conducted by timeout.com, a global media and entertainment brand.
The island city was placed at 31st position in the anonymous survey of 15,000 urbanites across 32 cities. In the survey, each city was scored across dimensions like food, drink, culture, friendliness, affordability, happiness and liveability to uncover what makes (and breaks) life in the city.
“The city-state of Singapore was the worst rated city we surveyed for culture, and the worst for drinking apart from Dubai. But it scored well for safety and public transport, and it has a much buzzier restaurant scene than other cities towards the bottom of the ranking,” said timeout.
Chicago tops the list, for the second time in a row, for having it all. Not only the overall winner, Chicago also scored highest for its food and drink scene and above average when it comes to happiness, culture, affordability, city pride and how people feel about their neighbourhood. Despite the obvious love for Chicago, safety is one area that noticeably fell short. The Windy City, which racked up 138.2 points, was also deemed “one of the happiest and proudest cities” worldwide.
In the survey, Singapore got final score of 98.7 points and ahead of last-placed city, Istanbul, which chalked up 87.1 points. The index reported that Istanbulites think their city is “a rip-off” and that it is unsafe, adding that that they also do not “feel proud or enjoy living there.”
Porto came at the second place, described as “the best place in the world for making friends, finding love and feeling free to be yourself.” The Portuguese city was also deemed the most affordable for a night out.
New York occupied third place which scored well for culture, nightlife and dining despite being one of the “most stressed cities”. Those who live in the Big Apple also said they felt “free to be themselves” and that they would still live in the city if money were no object.
Other cities that made the top ten were Melbourne, London, Madrid, Manchester, Lisbon, Philadelphia and Barcelona.
Time Out’s City Life Index 2018
- Chicago (138.2 points)
- Porto (137.9 points)
- New York (134.6 points)
- Melbourne (132.3 points)
- London (131.4 points)
- Madrid (131.1 points)
- Manchester (130.9 points)
- Lisbon (130.2 points)
- Philadelphia (129.2 points)
- Barcelona (128.4 points)
- Edinburgh (128.2 points)
- Tel Aviv (125.8 points)
- Austin (125.3 points)
- Paris (124.9 points)
- Mexico City (121.2 points)
- Shanghai (119.5 points)
- San Francisco (119.4 points)
- Berlin (119.2 points)
- Tokyo (117.7 points)
- Los Angeles (116.8 points)
- Zurich (115.3 points)
- Beijing (113.0 points)
- Washington, DC (111.3 points)
- Bangkok (111.0 points)
- Moscow (110.2 points)
- Hong Kong (109.6 points)
- Miami (107.9 points)
- Sydney (106.1 points)
- Dubai (105.3 points)
- Boston (103.7 points)
- Singapore (98.7 points)
- Istanbul (87.1 points)
