Amid the bustle of urban life in Southeast Asia, two global indices offer sharply contrasting pictures of the region’s urban quality of life.
One report ranks a capital city among the most stressed in the world, while another elevates a Southeast Asian city as one of the happiest globally. So where does your city stand?
Southeast Asia Breaks into the Top 3 Happiest Cities
A different picture emerges from the Happy City Index 2025, compiled by the Institute for Quality of Life. The study assesses 200 cities worldwide across six dimensions: citizens, governance, environment, economy, health, and mobility.
The results place Singapore third globally in the “Gold” category, trailing only Copenhagen in first place and Zurich in second. This marks a dramatic rise from the previous year, when Singapore ranked 34th.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, cities trail far behind: Kuala Lumpur at 167th, Quezon City at 169th, Cebu City at 174th, Petaling Jaya at 183rd, and Makati City at 193rd.
The Happy City Index 2026 involved 830 researchers, screened 3,500 cities, and conducted in-depth analysis of more than 900, making it one of the largest urban studies in the world. The index emphasizes balance across human wellbeing, governance systems, economic growth, health, the environment, and transportation as core measures of urban happiness.
Asia’s Only Representative in the Global Stress Index
In contrast, Remitly's report titled "World's Most and Least Stressed Cities" ranked Manila as the fourth most stressed city in the world for 2025, giving it a score of 7.34 out of 10. It sits just below New York (7.56), Dublin (7.55), and Mexico City (7.38). Manila is the only Asian city in the global top five.
The assessment covered more than 170 cities worldwide and used five main indicators: travel time over a 10-kilometer distance, cost of living, quality of healthcare services, crime rates, and air pollution.
In Manila, traveling 10 kilometers takes nearly 32 minutes on average. Limited road networks and heavy traffic volumes make daily mobility a persistent challenge. In terms of safety, the city recorded a crime index score of 64.6, categorized as high in the study.
Other indicators include the cost of basic necessities (excluding housing), the quality and accessibility of healthcare, and average annual pollution levels. All components are combined into a stress score out of 10—the higher the number, the greater the pressure of urban living.
Two reports, two very different outcomes. One Southeast Asian city is labeled the most stressed in Asia, while another ranks among the three happiest in the world. This contrast underscores that urban quality of life is shaped not only by economic strength, but also by how cities are governed—and how they are lived in day to day.
