A period of relative stability has put the Iranian capital No1 on the list of world cities that have achieved biggest improvements in liveability over the past five years, as calculated by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The “most improved” top 10 contains some unexpected names. So, eg, the fourth place: Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Latest ranking: 128; Ranking five years ago: 131; Five-year index movement: 3.8%. Here: A supporter of Ivory Coast president Alassane Ouattara campaigns in a market in the city’s Koumassi quarter. (Photo by Sia Kambou/AFP Photo)

Damaged buildings stand in the rebel-controlled area of Maaret al-Numan in Idlib province, Syria September 6, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Abdullah/Reuters)

Cats gather in front of a house damaged by shelling in the town of Dokuchayevsk, south of Donetsk, February 12, 2015. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Workers repair a damaged road, in the aftermath of an earthquake, near Anamizu, Japan on January 3, 202. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Palestinians inspect the damage caused by Israeli attacks in Gaza City on January 9, 2025. (Photo by APAImages/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Both men and women dressed as singer Kate Bush from her 1978 video to her song “Wuthering Heights” dance in a brief rehearsal before seeking to create a new world's record for the most people dancing in costume to the song at once at Tempelhofer Feld park on July 16, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. While a precise account was unavailable just after the event, a calculated estimate put the number of dancers at between 400 and 500, well above the previous record set in 2013 in Brighton, UK of 300. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A woman takes a selfie in front a damaged Turkish military APC that was attacked by protesters near the Turkish military headquarters in Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, July 16, 2016. (Photo by Hussein Malla/AP Photo)

A damaged wooden garden house is seen amid a field of wheat following floods caused by heavy rainfalls, in Bad Bodendorf, Germany, July 18, 2021. (Photo by Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters)