The World's Most Livable Cities

Europe, Canada and Australia top the list of 215 cities worldwide!

Zürich and Geneva come first and second respectively, followed by Vienna tied with Vancouver for third place.

Top 50 Cities:

1. Zürich
2. Geneva
3. Vienna
4. Vancouver (tied for 3rd place)
5. Auckland
6. Dusseldorf
7. Frankfurt
8. Munich
9. Bern
10. Sydney, Australia (tied for 9th place)
11. Copenhagen
12. Wellington, New Zealand
13. Amsterdam
14. Brussels
15. Toronto
16. Berlin
17. Melbourne
18. Luxembourg
19. Ottawa (tied for 18th place)
20. Stockholm
21. Perth, Australia
22. Montreal
23. Nurnburg, Germany
24. Dublin
25. Calgary
26. Hamburg
27. Honolulu
28. San Francisco
29. Adelaide, Australia
30. Helsinki
31. Brisbane, Australia
32. Oslo, Norway (tied for 31st place)
33. Paris
34. Singapore
35. Tokyo
36. Boston
37. Lyon, France
38. Yokahoma, Japan (tied for 37th place)
39. London
40. Kobe, Japan
41. Washington
42. Chicago (tied for 41st place)
43. Portland, Oregon
44. Barcelona
45. Madrid
46. New York City
47. Seattle
48. Lexington, Kentucky
49. Pittsburgh
50. Winston Salem, North Carolina (tied for 49th place)
51. Osaka, Japan
52. Milan, Italy (tied for 50th place)

Canada did well - Vancouver in 3rd, Toronto in 15th, Ottawa in 18th, Montreal in 22nd and Calgary in 25th place.

Calgary also grabbed the top spot in the health and sanitation rankings. Baku, Azerbaijan scored the lowest in this ranking.

So where does China (my current home) figure? Well I could only get (free) information on the health and sanitation rankings. Japan holds the highest-ranking cities in Asia. China does not enter the list until 134th place, with Shanghai, its highest-scoring city in the health and sanitation category. Its lowest-scoring one is Beijing, at 166th place. Shenzhen, which was featured in the survey, must fall between 134th and 166th place. Not stellar, but not surprising either.

This report is based on the Mercer Human Resources Consulting Firm's annual survey titled The World's Most Livable Cities. This questionnaire is based on 10 categories covering a total of 39 different criteria, each assigned different weightings. Each city is assessed and awarded a score for each criterion and category, which are then averaged into an overall score, based on the weightings. The categories are as follows:

• Political and Social Environment
• Economic Environment
• Socio-Cultural Environment
• Medical and Health Considerations
• Schools and Education
• Public Services and Transport
• Recreation
• Consumer Goods
• Housing
• Natural Environment
  

The core purpose of this report is to allow companies a standard by which they can calculate a "hardship allowance" for their employees, should they be transferred to different cities around the world. "'Hardship allowance' refers to premium compensation paid to expatriates who experience – or should expect to experience – a significant deterioration in living conditions in their new host location."

Of course, beyond calculating hardship allowances, we all have different ideas and opinions of what constitutes a great city and we as individuals would obviously assign different weightings based on personal preferences. Interestingly enough, Mercer Human Resources Consulting outlines in their report a distinction between what they call "Quality of Life" and "Quality of Living". Quality of Life refers to those more abstract and subjective elements that affect an individual, such as emotional state and personal life, whereas Quality of Living, which the report assesses, refers to more concrete and objective elements such as transportation, infrastructure, cost of living, air and water quality, educational services, etc. It is true, one can live in a top-ranked city and still be unhappy due to tragic personal circumstances or live in a lower-ranked city and be more or less content.

In Mercer's own words:

The Quality of Living index is based on several criteria used to judge whether an expatriate is entitled to a hardship allowance. A city with a high Quality of Living index is a safe and stable one, but it may be lacking the dynamic je ne sais quoi that makes people want to live in world-renowned cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London or New York. Sometimes you need a little spice to make a city exciting. But that "spice" may also give a city a lower ranking.

What makes one person's quality of life better or worse cannot be quantified in an objective index. Therefore, Mercer's Quality of Living report reflects only the tangible aspects of living in a city on expatriate assignments, and leaves the question of the quality of one's life to those living it!