Thinking of migrating to a more agreeable locale? Then perhaps you should consider moving to Vienna, which has been named the best city to live in for the tenth year in a row, reports The Traveller online portal.
Famed for its packed cultural calendar, coffee houses and imperial architecture, the Austrian capital scooped top honours in Mercer's latest Quality of Living survey.
The annual index compares 231 cities around the world, ranking them on factors such as crime, education, healthcare, public services, recreation, housing and personal freedom.
Vienna beat Zurich in Switzerland to claim top spot in the survey, which saw Auckland, Munich and Vancouver tied in third. The highest ranked city in the UK was London, which came in a lowly 41, ahead of Edinburgh (45), Glasgow (48) and Birmingham (49).
Mercer's Kate Fitzpatrick said London's high crime rate and poor air quality left the English capital lagging behind European rivals such as Frankfurt (7), Amsterdam (11) and Dublin (33).
Vienna beat Zurich in Switzerland to claim top spot in the survey, which saw Auckland, Munich and Vancouver tied in third. The highest ranked city in the UK was London, which came in a lowly 41, ahead of Edinburgh (45), Glasgow (48) and Birmingham (49).
Mercer's Kate Fitzpatrick said London's high crime rate and poor air quality left the English capital lagging behind European rivals such as Frankfurt (7), Amsterdam (11) and Dublin (33).
"London remains the city with the highest quality of living in the UK and the preferred centre for international business," she said. "However, it continues to be held back by perennial problems with traffic and air pollution, and having the lowest scores in the UK for safety owing to its crime levels."
The five highest-ranking North American cities were all Canadian – Vancouver (3), Toronto (16), Ottawa (19), Montreal (21) and Calgary (32) – while the best performing US city was San Francisco (34). Asia's top-ranked destination was Singapore (25).
At the other end of the table was the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, which, despite significant advances in security and healthcare, remained rock bottom, lagging behind Bangui in the Central African Republic and Sana'a in war-torn Yemen.
Southeast Asian nations were also included in this world list, hence you may find more details on the rankings as shown below:
For the first time this year, Mercer provided a separate ranking for personal safety, following analysis of crime levels, law enforcement, personal freedom and freedom of the press.
Mercer, a New York-based human resources consulting firm, isn't the only organisation to produce an annual "liveability" survey. The Economist Intelligence Unit does likewise and also rates Vienna as number one, ahead of Melbourne and Osaka.
Source: The Traveller | The Mercer 2019 official report
