European champions

European cities occupy the top of the world quality of living survey

People say Switzerland is the land of chocolate, banks and watches. But the country has recently added something else to its image- the best quality of living worldwide.
Zurich has been once again the city with the best indicators among all the surveyed countries in the research of Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The survey explores 215 populated areas according to 39 criteria. These criteria have been grouped into separate subgroups: political and social environment; economic stability; social and cultural environment; health care and sanitation; education and access to it; public services and transport; entertainment; consumer goods; households; nature - climate and natural calamities. The survey is a comparison of the quality of living in different cities, the base city being New York with an index score of 100 points. The cities with the highest level of personal security rankings have also been identified based on indicators such as criminal environment, internal stability, effectiveness of law enforcement, etc.
If you ask yourselves, wich is the place with the highest quality of living, then you may well choose from

Europe and Asia Pacific
These two continents, located opposite to each other, are homes to the cities which provide the best living conditions in the world. In Europe, Switzerland has three cities represented in the top 10. Zurich ranks first for a second year in a row, Geneva shares second place with Vienna, and Bern ranks 9th. Dusseldorf (6), Munich and Frankfurt (both at 7) represent Germany. Australia and the Asia Pacific also get good scores - Auckland (5), followed by Sydney (10) and Wellington (12).
According to Mr. Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer, Europe dominates in terms of infrastructure, health and political stability. "There is still quite great discrepanies, but Eastern Europe’s living standards catch up with those in Western Europe", he added.
The rankings of Bern, Geneva and Zurich also confirm Switzerland’s position as one of the most secure countries in Europe. The index shows that Luxembourg is the city with the highest scores for personal safety - 131.4, in stark contrast with Moscow, which scores the lowest index of 37.7 at place 196. Great Britain’s Glasgow (43) and Birmingham (53) rank safer than London (69).
However, the British capital offers a higher quality of life in general and ranks 38th. Generally,

Eastern Europe drops behind
The highest ranking city in the region is Prague (71), followed by Budapest (74), Vilnius (78), Ljubljana (82) and Warsaw (85). At the bottom of the chart we find the lowest ranked European city - Minsk, the capital of Belarus, at 183rd place with an index score of 49.4.
The top of the ranking is occupied by a number of cities representing countries with traditionally high quality of life like Denmark’s Copenhagen (11), the Netherlands and Amsterdam (13), Belgium’s Brussels at number 14, Germany’s Berlin at 16 and Luxemburg at 17th position. The Irish capital, Dublin ranks 25th leaving behind Paris (32), Barcelona (42) and Madrid (43). Lisbon ranks 44th and Rome - 55th.
While many people consider the US the country of infinite opportunities and a dream place, you we were surprised to find out this is not quite so, according to Mercer’s survey. The global research company has found out that Canadian cities dominate the rankings in

the Americas
in terms of quality of living and personal security. Vancouver (4) has the best quality of living followed by other Canadian cities like Toronto (15), Ottawa (19) and Montreal (22). When it comes to personal safety Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver are all ranked 22nd.
Honolulu (USA) enters the chart at number 28 followed by San Francisco (29), Boston (37) and Chicago (44). Although at place 44, Washington also ranks in the top 50 leaving behind New York (49). It seems that the US are not a location usually associated with personal security - Chicago, Honolulu, Huston, Lexington, San Francisco and Winston Salem are all ranked 53rd.
In Central and South America, San Juan in Puerto Rico retains the highest rankings at number 72 followed by Montevideo at 76. Port-au-Prince in Haiti ranks the lowest in the region at 202.
Mr. Parakatil commented that many of the Latin American cities have high crime levels as a result political and economic instability, poor traffic and overpopulation.

The Middle-Eastern and African countries
are characterized by investments in infrastructure, health prevention and sanitation contrasting to lack of personal safety and political tensions. Although showing the best indicators for quality of living, Cape Town (South Africa) and Port Louis (Mauritius) both rank at place 80 and are followed by Dubai (83) and Abu Dhabi (87). Johannesburg falls down from place 90 in 2007 to 94 in 2008, and Harare in Zimbabwe - from 168 to 174.
Africa has 19 cities among the lowest rankings. Among them are Lagos (198), Port Harcourt (207) and Bangui (214). Baghdad is the city with the worst quality of living score ranked 215. This is also the place, which provides the lowest level of personal safety. Other cities in the bottom of the chart include Kinshasa (214) and Nairobi (212). The cities with the best safety levels in the Middle-Easterb region are Abu Dhabi (33), Dubai (47) and Port Louis (60).
Increasing political instability and the economic progress of China and India have resulted in improvements in the quality of living of some immigrants to major

Asian cities
Mercer experts say. Thus, Singapore climbs up two places to number 32, slightly above the position of the Japanese capital, Tokyo, 35th. Hong Kong and Beijing retain their last year rankings, now at numbers 70 and 116 respectively. Bangalore (140) is the Indian city with the best index score, followed by Mumbai (142). Both cities show considerable improvements since 2007. In other parts of Asia Kuala Lumpur stands at position 75 followed by Taipei (84), Seoul (86), Bangkok (109) and Jakarta at 146.
"Border conflicts and internal issues, combined to high crime levels, make countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia less attractive relocation destinations", Mr. Parakatil shared his opinion. This also explains the fact why Pakistan is one of the lowest-scoring destinations with Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore at places 213, 203 and192 respectively. 

Quality of living - worldwide ranking for 2008

ranking 2008	ranking 2007	city	country	index 2008	index 2007
1	1	Zurich	Switzerland	108	108.1
2	3	Vienna	Austria	107.9	107.7
2	2	Geneva	Switzerland	107.9	108
4	3	Vankouver	Canada	107.6	107.7
5	5	Auckland	New Zealand	107.3	107.3
6	5	Dusseldorf	Germany	107.2	107.3
7	8	Munich	Germany	107	106.9
7	7	Frankfurt	Germany	107	107.1
9	9	Bern	Switzerland	106.5	106.5
10	9	Sidney	Australia	106.3	106.5