Once again, Singapore has been named the city with the best quality of life in Asia, according to a survey published by human-resources consultancy Mercer.
Globally though, the city-state is only in 25th place. The Austrian capital of Vienna holds the spot for the city with the world’s highest quality of living — a position it has held on to for a decade now. The likes of Zurich (second place) and Auckland, Munich and Vancouver (joint third place) trail close behind. In fact, 13 of the world’s top 20 spots are taken by European cities, with Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Geneva, and Basel spread out in the top 10.
Over in Asia, Singapore has the highest quality of living, followed by five Japanese cities: Tokyo (#49), Kobe (#49), Yokohama (#55), Osaka (#58), and Nagoya (#62). Hong Kong was in 71st place, while Southeast Asian cities Kuala Lumpur (#85), Bangkok (#133), Manila (#137), and Jakarta (#142) remained in the lower end of the ranking. Notably, Phom Penh is considered the city with the lowest quality of living in Asia.
The survey, designed as a tool to help international organizations determine salary levels for expatriate employees, is based on 39 criteria. These include housing, political stability, crime, leisure, air pollution, infrastructure, the health system, education, and the economy.
Mercer said all US cities covered in the analysis fell in the rankings this year, with the exception of New York, which rose one place to 44 as crime rates there continue to fall. San Fransisco was the top-ranked US city at 34.
At the other end of the table, the lowest ranked city was Baghdad at 231. Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, and Sanaa in Yemen were 230th and 229th respectively.
With words by AFP
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