Delhi only Indian city in world's 100 best cities; CM says 'such good news'

New delhi: Amid the ongoing pandemic and seasonal spell of bad air, the Capital received "good news" from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday when the AAP leader took to Twitter to announce that the city had featured in the list of World's Best Cities for 2021 and is the only Indian city to rank among the 100 best cities across the world. Not only that, Delhi has jumped in ranking from the 81st position last year to the 62nd in the list of the world's best cities for 2021.

CM Kejriwal while retweeting his Deputy Manish Sisodia's tweet, who also congratulated the city's residents on its splendid performance and improvement, wrote on Twitter, "Such a good news for all Dilliwalas. All dilli walas have worked so hard in the last six years to make it happen. The world is noticing the positive changes happening in Delhi."

Meanwhile, Sisodia in a tweet said, "Congratulations to all the proud people of Delhi and @ArvindKejriwal for the leadership. Our beloved Delhi is ranked 62 in World's Best cities. The only Indian city in the list. There is significant improvement from the past ranking i.e. 81."

Resonance Consultancy said it ranked the world's best 100 cities with populations of more than a million, using a "combination of statistical performance and qualitative evaluations" by locals and visitors in 25 areas grouped into six core categories.

It also included factors like Covid-19 infections as of July, income incongruity and unemployment for the first time this year to rank these cities.

The cities, with London on the Number 1 spot again for the sixth year in a row, were ranked on the basis of diversity, weather, number of parks and tourist attractions, the number of social media hashtags and check-ins and other points. New York, Paris, Moscow and Tokyo followed on the second, third, fourth and fifth positions respectively.

Delhi was described as one of the "few places on earth with the hectic, pulsating pace of Delhi, which explains its #18 spot for Place, including a #29 ranking for Sights & Landmarks." "Indeed, Delhi is a city built upon or near the ruins of a previous city, and today visitors can trace through the eras, exploring centuries-old forts, tombs, shrines and mosques. Old Delhi is where to soak it all in while weaving in and out of the chaos, shopping for trinkets and handicrafts in the frenetic street bazaars and gaping in wonder at the Red Fort," it added.