New survey reveals the cities with the best quality of living in the world

How many cities in the top ten have you visited?

Eight of the ten cities with the best quality of living in the world are in Europe, according to the 19^th annual quality of living survey by Mercer, a global consulting company. For the eighth year in a row, Vienna was deemed to have the best quality of living of any city in the world, followed by Zurich and Auckland, with Munich and Vancouver making up the top five. Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany, Geneva and Basel in Switzerland and Copenhagen also warranted inclusion in the top ten, as did Sydney, with Dublin ranking a respectable 34^th on the list. Mercer’s rankings were compiled after local living conditions in more than 450 cities surveyed worldwide are evaluated. Those living conditions are analysed according to 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories:

1. Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.).
2. Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services).
3. Socio-cultural environment (media availability and censorship, limitations on personal freedom).
4. Medical and health considerations (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc.).
5. Schools and education (standards and availability of international schools).
6. Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transportation, traffic congestion, etc.).
7. Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc.).
8. Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc.).
9. Housing (rental housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services).
10. Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters).

At the bottom end of the rankings, meanwhile, were cities such as Khartoum in Sudan, Port au Price in Haiti, Sana’a in the Republic of Yemen, Bangui in the Central African Republic and Baghdad in Iraq; you can check out the results of the survey in full here.