Study says Zimbabwe capital worst city to live in

HARARE, Zimbabwe — A top research group rates Zimbabwe’s capital as the worst of 140 world cities to live in.

The British-based Economist Intelligence Unit, in a study available Thursday in Harare, said its researchers excluded cities in Libya, Iraq and other war zones.

Harare, where power and water outages occur daily, scored a 38 percent “livability rating.”

The group said the threat of civil unrest and the availability of public health care and public transport were intolerable. Energy and water supplies were undesirable, it said, calling phones and Internet services uncomfortable.

Zimbabwe formed a shaky coalition government in 2009 after years of political violence and economic meltdown. Melbourne and Vienna were the two easiest cities to live in.

The group is a respected economic and risk consultancy linked to the Economist magazine.