Methodology
The UQLI™ composite score is constructed from 52 indicators across 10 weighted dimensions, normalized using winsorized z-scores and aggregated via a geometric mean.
Normalization
Winsorized z-score
Each indicator is winsorized at the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles before standardization, limiting the influence of extreme outliers while preserving relative differences.
Composite Method
Geometric mean
Dimension scores are aggregated using a weighted geometric mean. This penalizes extreme imbalance across dimensions — a city cannot compensate for very low scores by excelling in others.
Confidence Bands
Bootstrap ±95% CI
A 1,000-iteration bootstrap resampling of available indicators produces a 95% confidence interval for each city's composite score. Cities with fewer available indicators carry wider bands.
10 Dimensions
Total weight: 100% · 52 indicators distributed across dimensions
Healthcare
15.0%Access to quality healthcare facilities, life expectancy, infant mortality, health expenditure per capita, and physician density.
Safety & Security
12.0%Crime rates, personal safety indices, rule of law, political stability, and emergency response infrastructure.
Economy
12.0%GDP per capita, unemployment rate, income equality (Gini), cost of living, and business environment scores.
Environment
10.0%Air quality index, green space per capita, water quality, waste management infrastructure, and climate resilience.
Education
10.0%Literacy rates, school enrollment ratios, university quality rankings, public education expenditure, and digital literacy.
Infrastructure
10.0%Transport connectivity, road quality, broadband penetration, energy reliability, and housing affordability.
Culture & Leisure
8.0%Museums, cultural events, recreational facilities, hospitality index, and quality restaurant density.
Governance
10.0%Transparency, anti-corruption scores, e-government maturity, civic participation, and press freedom.
Social Cohesion
8.0%Income inequality, social trust, minority inclusion, gender equality, and community wellbeing indices.
Innovation & Digital
5.0%R&D expenditure, patent filings, startup density, digital infrastructure, and knowledge economy metrics.
Data Sources
Data is sourced from the most recent available annual reports. Missing indicator values are imputed via peer-group median for cities in the same UN region and income tier. Imputed indicators are excluded from confidence interval calculations.
Composite Score Formula
// Step 1: Winsorize each indicator to [p2.5, p97.5]
x_w = clip(x, p2.5, p97.5)
// Step 2: Normalize to [0, 100]
x_norm = 100 × (x_w − min) / (max − min)
// Step 3: Aggregate indicators to dimension score
D_j = mean(x_norm for all indicators in dimension j)
// Step 4: Geometric mean composite
UQLI = ∏ (D_j ^ w_j) where Σw_j = 1
The geometric mean composite ensures that a city with a near-zero score on any dimension cannot achieve a high composite score, regardless of performance elsewhere.