Vienna has world's best quality of life: survey
NEW YORK — Vienna has the world's best quality of life and Baghdad the worst, with wildly popular but less organized cities like New York and London falling between, according to a survey Wednesday.
Mercer consultants' city rankings for 2010 lists Vienna, Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver and Auckland the top five urban living destinations.
Paris comes in only at 34, London at 39, Tokyo 40, Madrid 48 and New York at a lowly 49.
The list, aimed at government or multinational human resources departments, does not pretend to rank the most exciting or energetic cities, instead concentrating on stability, safety and public services.
"Mercer evaluates local living conditions in all the 420 cities it surveys worldwide. Living conditions are analyzed according to 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories," the company says.
These include crime levels, banking services, personal freedoms, sanitation, schools, transport, and climate.
On these criteria, cities known chiefly for cleanliness and calm come out well.
Switzerland scores three times in the top 10 with the addition of Bern at number nine. Germany also has three top 10: Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich.
In 10th place is Sydney, closely followed by New Zealand's Wellington at 12.
Auckland, sharing fourth place, leads Asian-Pacific cities, followed by Sydney, Wellington, Melbourne at 18 and Perth at 21. Singapore keeps its place as highest-ranking Asian city at 28, followed by Tokyo, Kobe and Yokohama in Japan.
Bottom of the Asian heap are Dhaka in Bangladesh at 206 and the ex-Soviet cities of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, and Dushanbe in Tajikistan at 209 and 210.
Nothing though can match Baghdad at 221.
"A lack of security and stability continue to have a negative impact on Baghdad's quality of living and its score remains far behind that of Bangui (27.4) in the Central African Republic which is second to last," Mercer says.
Copyright © 2010 AFP.
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http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving
Mercer's 2010 Quality of Living survey highlights - GlobalLast updated: 26 May 2010
Summary
The global financial crisis was the issue that created the largest impact on the business climate in 2009. The crisis led to either a recession or an economic slowdown in the majority of nations in the world. Not only did it lead to significant changes in the banking sector in many countries, the financial crisis also helped shape the challenging global business environment that currently exists.
With governments having been forced to revise their investment and development activities, we expected to see limited improvement in certain quality-of-living factors, such as recreation and public services. However, a few factors had a role in how this played out. For example, the global financial crisis has not had a uniform impact on all countries, and government reactions have also been varied. In addition, many developmental activities initiated in previous years have only just started to make an impact on the daily lives of expatriates in the regions where these activities have been launched. Furthermore, limitations on personal freedom and relationships with other countries often are not related to the state of the economy.
With governments having been forced to revise their investment and development activities, we expected to see limited improvement in certain quality-of-living factors, such as recreation and public services. However, a few factors had a role in how this played out. For example, the global financial crisis has not had a uniform impact on all countries, and government reactions have also been varied. In addition, many developmental activities initiated in previous years have only just started to make an impact on the daily lives of expatriates in the regions where these activities have been launched. Furthermore, limitations on personal freedom and relationships with other countries often are not related to the state of the economy.
Considering all these factors and issues, it is not surprising that we witnessed the usual mix of increases and decreases in quality of living in the past year.
Top 5 cities worldwide
| Top 5 cities: Quality of living ranking | Top 5 cities: Eco-city ranking |
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Top 5 cities by region
Quality of living ranking
| Americas | Asia Pacific | Europe | Middle East & Africa |
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Eco-city ranking
| Americas | Asia Pacific | Europe | Middle East & Africa |
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City rankings
Top 50 cities: Quality of living ranking
Base City: New York, US (=100)
| Rank 2010 | City | Country | Qol index 2010 |
| 1 | VIENNA | AUSTRIA | 108.6 |
| 2 | ZURICH | SWITZERLAND | 108 |
| 3 | GENEVA | SWITZERLAND | 107.9 |
| 4 | VANCOUVER | CANADA | 107.4 |
| 4 | AUCKLAND | NEW ZEALAND | 107.4 |
| 6 | DUSSELDORF | GERMANY | 107.2 |
| 7 | FRANKFURT | GERMANY | 107 |
| 7 | MUNICH | GERMANY | 107 |
| 9 | BERN | SWITZERLAND | 106.5 |
| 10 | SYDNEY | AUSTRALIA | 106.3 |
| 11 | COPENHAGEN | DENMARK | 106.2 |
| 12 | WELLINGTON | NEW ZEALAND | 105.9 |
| 13 | AMSTERDAM | NETHERLANDS | 105.7 |
| 14 | OTTAWA | CANADA | 105.5 |
| 15 | BRUSSELS | BELGIUM | 105.4 |
| 16 | TORONTO | CANADA | 105.3 |
| 17 | BERLIN | GERMANY | 105 |
| 18 | MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA | 104.8 |
| 19 | LUXEMBOURG | LUXEMBOURG | 104.6 |
| 20 | STOCKHOLM | SWEDEN | 104.5 |
| 21 | PERTH | AUSTRALIA | 104.2 |
| 21 | MONTREAL | CANADA | 104.2 |
| 23 | HAMBURG | GERMANY | 104.1 |
| 24 | NURNBURG | GERMANY | 103.9 |
| 24 | OSLO | NORWAY | 103.9 |
| 26 | CANBERRA | AUSTRALIA | 103.6 |
| 26 | DUBLIN | IRELAND | 103.6 |
| 28 | CALGARY | CANADA | 103.5 |
| 28 | SINGAPORE | SINGAPORE | 103.5 |
| 30 | STUTTGART | GERMANY | 103.3 |
| 31 | HONOLULU | UNITED STATES | 103.1 |
| 32 | ADELAIDE | AUSTRALIA | 103 |
| 32 | SAN FRANCISCO | UNITED STATES | 103 |
| 34 | PARIS | FRANCE | 102.9 |
| 35 | HELSINKI | FINLAND | 102.6 |
| 36 | BRISBANE | AUSTRALIA | 102.4 |
| 37 | BOSTON | UNITED STATES | 102.2 |
| 38 | LYON | FRANCE | 101.9 |
| 39 | LONDON | UNITED KINGDOM | 101.6 |
| 40 | TOKYO | JAPAN | 101.4 |
| 41 | MILAN | ITALY | 100.8 |
| 41 | KOBE | JAPAN | 100.8 |
| 41 | YOKOHAMA | JAPAN | 100.8 |
| 44 | BARCELONA | SPAIN | 100.6 |
| 45 | LISBON | PORTUGAL | 100.3 |
| 45 | CHICAGO | UNITED STATES | 100.3 |
| 45 | WASHINGTON | UNITED STATES | 100.3 |
| 48 | MADRID | SPAIN | 100.2 |
| 49 | NEW YORK CITY | UNITED STATES | 100 |
| 50 | SEATTLE | UNITED STATES | 99.8 |
Americas
Canadian cities still dominate the top of the index for this region with Vancouver (4) retaining the top spot, followed by Ottawa (14), Toronto (16) and Montreal (21). Calgary ranks 28 on the overall quality of living ranking.
Honolulu (31) is the city in the US with the highest quality of living, followed by San Francisco (32) and Boston (37). Chicago and Washington share position 45 and New York - the base city - is in position 49. Newly added cities Philadelphia and Dallas are ranked 55 and 61, respectively.
In Central and South America, Point-à-Pitre, the largest city and economic area of Guadeloupe and new to the index this year, ranks the highest for quality of living at 62. San Juan in Puerto Rico follows at 72 and Buenos Aires at 78. Havana (192) and Port-au-Prince (213) are the lowest-ranking cities in the region.
Mr Parakatil commented: “Quality of living remained stable in North American cities. However, in South and Central America a general decline is witnessed mostly due to political instability, economic woes and energy shortages in certain countries. High levels of crime also remain a major problem in many of the region’s cities.”
Canadian and US cities are strongly represented at the top of the eco-city ranking, both for this region and globally. Calgary grabs the top spot globally with a score of 145.7, closely followed by Honolulu (score 145.1) in second. Ottawa is in third position with a score of 139.9 and Minneapolis follows in sixth place (score 137.8). Mr Parakatil commented: “Calgary’s top ranking is down to its excellent level of service on waste removal, sewage systems, and water drinkability and availability, coupled with relatively low air pollution.”
The highest-ranking Central and South American city is again Pointe-à-Pitre (49), followed by San Juan (69) and Montevideo (70).
Europe
Europe has 16 cities amongst the world’s top 25 cities for quality of living. Vienna retains the highest ranking both for the region and globally and is again followed by Zurich (2), Geneva (3) and Düsseldorf (6). The lowest-ranking Western European cities are Leipzig (64) and Athens (75). In the UK, London is the highest-ranking city at 39, followed by newcomer to the list Aberdeen (53), Birmingham (55), Glasgow (57) and Belfast (63).
Levels of quality of living continue to improve in Eastern Europe, with most index scores increasing slightly. Prague is the highest-ranking city at 70 and its index score increased from 93.9 to 94.8 in 2010. Budapest follows in position 73 and Ljubljana in 77.
In the eco-city index, Nordic cities fare particularly well with Helsinki (3) the highest-ranked in the region, followed by Copenhagen (8) and Oslo in joint ninth place with Stockholm. “Nordic cities do particularly well because the modern parts of most of them have been designed with potential environmental impacts in mind,” said Mr Parakatil. Aberdeen (19) is the highest-ranking UK eco-city, followed by Belfast (30), Glasgow (47), London (63) and Birmingham (64).
Middle East and Africa
Dubai (75) in the United Arab Emirates and Port Louis in Mauritius (82) are the region’s cities with the best quality of living. Abu Dhabi (83), Cape Town (86) and Tunis (94) follow and are, along with Victoria in the Seychelles (95), Johannesburg (96) and Muscat in Oman (100), the region’s only other cities in the top 100. Following the revision of the index a selection of cities from this region has been added, including Doha in Qatar (110), Rabat in Morocco (112), Banjul in Gambia (164) and Abuja in Nigeria (205).
Baghdad (221) remains at the bottom of the table, though its index score has increased slightly (from 14.4 to 14.7 in 2010). A lack of security and stability continue to have a negative impact on Baghdad’s quality of living and its score remains far behind that of Bangui (27.4) in the Central African Republic which is second to last.
In the eco-city index, most of the region’s cities rank below 100. The highest-ranking cities are Cape Town (30), Victoria (38), Muscat (48), Johannesburg (54) and Abu Dhabi and Dubai (in joint 65). Antananarivo in Madagascar (217) is at the bottom of the list with an eco-city score of 39.7, while Baghdad is at 214, scoring 40.5.
Mr Parakatil commented: “The lack of adequate modern infrastructure in some of the African cities combined with relatively high air pollution explains why many of them are ranked below 100.”
Asia Pacific
Auckland (4) retains its position as the highest-ranking city for quality of living in the region. Sydney follows at 10, Wellington at 12, Melbourne at 18 and Perth at 21. At 26, Canberra is new to the index. Singapore remains the highest-ranking Asian city at 28, followed by Japanese cities Tokyo (40), Kobe and Yokohama (both at 41), Osaka (51) and Nagoya (57). The region’s lowest-ranking cities are Dhaka in Bangladesh (206) and two cities new to the list – Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan (209) and Dushanbe in Tajikistan (210).
Mr Parakatil commented: “Quality of living declined in a few countries in Asia between the start of 2009 and 2010. Increasing threats of violence and terrorism, coupled with natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons and cyclones have had a negative impact on the quality of living in Asian cities. This may result in higher hardship allowances for expatriates sent to these countries.”
With a score of 138.9, Wellington (5) is the highest-ranking eco-city in the region followed by Adelaide (7), Kobe (9), Perth (12) and Auckland (13). Dhaka in Bangladesh (220) ranks lowest with a score of 30.9.
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