Qazvin, Iran

Capital City

The population of Qazvin has grown to over 400,000, but the city's infrastructure has struggled to keep up. With just a single qanat (ancient underground aqueduct) and a few small streams, the water supply is chronically strained. Bureaucracy is also a persistent headache - the city's walls were not even completed until over half a century after the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid first ordered them built. And while the cold, dry climate is tolerable, the frequent earthquakes are a constant threat, as evidenced by the devastating 1962 quake that killed over 12,000 people. Overall, Qazvin is a bustling commercial hub, but the practical challenges of living there make it best suited for those with a high tolerance for red tape and natural disasters.