NEW DELHI, June 13: Mumbai and Delhi have been adjudged as the World’s most unfriendly cities for non-natives while Toronto and Sydney have claimed the top two spots in the list of “Most Friendly cities” for non-natives.
It was the conclusion of a recent survey conducted by Preply, an online tutoring and language lessons platform. The survey called The Community Spirit Index: The World’s Friendliest Cities for Non-Natives, 53 cities worldwide were assessed based on their friendliness towards non-natives. While no Indian cities made it to the “friendly” list, Delhi and Mumbai marked their presence on the “unfriendly” list.
The index considered six key metrics to determine the most welcoming and unfriendly cities globally. The metrics included visitor return rates, safety ratings, LGBTQ+ equality, overall happiness, ease of communication through a common language, and the friendliness of staff.
Accra in Ghana was ranked as the least friendly city for non-natives, receiving a low friendliness score of only 3.12 out of 10. Following closely behind was Marrakech in Morocco with a score of 3.69, claiming second spot. Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur, Rio de Janeiro, and Delhi occupied the slots that followed on the unfriendly list.
On the other hand, Toronto and Sydney emerged as the friendliest cities for non-natives in 2023, both receiving an impressive overall friendliness score of 7.97 out of 10. Edinburgh and Manchester secured the second and third positions, respectively, in terms of friendliness towards non-natives. Edinburgh received a high overall friendliness score of 7.78, with a safety index score of 68.92 out of 100. Manchester scored 7.72 out of 10 and was renowned for its welcoming atmosphere, with 14.76% of reviews mentioning the word ‘friendly.’
The survey also identified the top cities where people searched for tips on making new friends. São Paulo claimed the first position with a staggering 23,160 annual searches for “how to make friends,” followed by New York and Paris.
Closer home in India, data shows that only 12% of people considered Mumbai as friendly, whereas the figure was slightly higher at 17% for Delhi. Meanwhile, according to the survey under the friendly staff category, Mumbai scored a rating of 3.91%, while Delhi scored 3.27%. Also, Mumbai received a happiness score of 3.78, whereas Delhi scored 4.01 in this regard.
(Manas Dasgupta)