The World's Most Livable Cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on a reputable annual survey of living conditions. Two examples are the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economist's World's Most Livable Cities (using data from Mercer as well).
However, the most thorough research into this subject probably has been performed by the American monthly magazine of Reader's Digest. According to their study, Stockholm, capital of Sweden, is second to no other city on Earth in terms of over-all livability.
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Quality of Living Survey
| Mercer's Quality of Living Survey 2009 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | Rating | |
| 1 | Vienna | Austria | 108.6 |
| 2 | Zürich | Switzerland | 108 |
| 3 | Geneva | Switzerland | 107.9 |
| 4 | Vancouver | Canada | 107.4 |
| Auckland | New Zealand | 107.4 | |
| 6 | Düsseldorf | Germany | 107.2 |
| 7 | Munich | Germany | 107 |
| 8 | Frankfurt | Germany | 106.8 |
| 9 | Bern | Switzerland | 106.5 |
| 10 | Sydney | Australia | 106.3 |
Mercer's Quality of Living Survey is released annually, comparing 215 cities based on 39 criteria. New York is given a baseline score of 100 and other cities are rated in comparison.
Important criteria are safety, education, hygiene, recreation, political-economic stability and public transportation. The importance of the list lies primarily in that internationally operating companies use it to determine where they will open offices or plants and how much they pay the employees.
In the 2008 list, the top is dominated by cities from Europe, with several entries from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Switzerland and Germany both have 3 cities in the top 10, which is especially striking for Switzerland, given the size of the country. The first entries from other countries are the USA at 28, Singapore at 32 and Japan at 35. Baghdad was at the bottom of the list. Of the 25 countries at the bottom, 18 are from Africa. Compared to lists from previous years, countries from South Asia (mainly India), East Asia (mainly China), the Middle East and Eastern Europe are clearly on the rise.
Mercer also has a 'Personal Safety' list, which is also dominated by EU and Swiss cities, with the top 5 being Luxembourg, Bern, Geneva, Helsinki and Zürich.
In the 2007 Mercer Quality of Living Survey the top five places included Zürich on 108.1 points, Geneva (108.0), Vancouver and Vienna on 107.7 points, Auckland on 107.3 and Düsseldorf on 107.2. Cities particularly from Switzerland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Canada rated well. All of Australia's major capitals were rated highly with Sydney at 9, Melbourne at 17, Perth at 21, Adelaide at 30 and Brisbane at 31. New Zealand's capital Wellington ranked at 12 and its largest city Auckland ranked at 5. Canada did equally well with Vancouver at 3, Toronto at 13, Ottawa at 18, Montreal at 22 and Calgary at 24. The top-rated USA cities were Honolulu at 27 and San Francisco at 29.
World's Most Livable Cities
| The Economist's World's Most Livable Cities 2009 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | Rating | |
| 1 | Vancouver | Canada | 98.0 |
| 2 | Vienna | Austria | 97.9 |
| 3 | Melbourne | Australia | 97.5 |
| 4 | Toronto | Canada | 97.2 |
| 5 | Perth | Australia | 96.6 |
| Calgary | Canada | 96.6 | |
| 7 | Helsinki | Finland | 96.2 |
| 8 | Geneva | Switzerland | 96.1 |
| Sydney | Australia | 96.1 | |
| Zürich | Switzerland | 96.1 | |
The Economist Intelligence Unit's livability is also using data from the Mercer consulting group and shows cities in Canada, Australia, Austria, Finland and Switzerland as the ideal destinations thanks to a widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk and an effective infrastructure.
The report placed Vancouver, Canada as the most livable city in the world, with Vienna taking second place followed by Melbourne, Australia. The survey said "In the current global political climate, it is no surprise that the most desirable destinations are those with a lower perceived threat of terrorism." [1]
Two other Australian capital cities (Perth at equal 5th and Sydney at equal 8th) claimed positions in the top ten. Other Canadian cities also ranked highly in the survey. In addition to Vancouver, the Canadian cities Toronto and Calgary were all placed within the top 10, with Ottawa and Montreal ranked within the top 25. Vienna, Austria, Finnish capital Helsinki and Geneva and Zürich in Switzerland also ranked within the top ten.
Harare, Zimbabwe was rated the worst city in the world to call home. African and South Asian cities were generally the worst performing in the EIU's rankings.
Most Liveable Cities Index
| Monocle's Most Livable Cities Index 2009 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country | 2008 | |
| 1 | Zürich | Switzerland | (04) |
| 2 | Copenhagen | Denmark | (01) |
| 3 | Tokyo | Japan | (03) |
| 4 | Munich | Germany | (02) |
| 5 | Helsinki | Finland | (05) |
| 6 | Stockholm | Sweden | (07) |
| 7 | Vienna | Austria | (06) |
| 8 | Paris | France | (10) |
| 9 | Melbourne | Australia | (09) |
| 10 | Berlin | Germany | (14) |
Since 2007 the lifestyle magazine Monocle publishes an annual list of liveable cities.[2] The list in 2009 was named "The Most Liveable Cities Index" and presented 25 top locations for quality of life. The winning city in 2007 was Munich, Germany and the 2008 winner was Copenhagen, Denmark.
Important criteria in this non-scientific survey are safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, quality of architecture, public transportation, tolerance, Environmental issues and access to nature, urban design, business conditions, pro active policy developments and medical care.
In the 2009 list the subsequent ranks included Honolulu (11.), Madrid (12.), Sydney (13.), Vancouver (14.), Barcelona (15.), Fukuoka (16.), Oslo (17.), Singapore (18.), Montreal (19.), Auckland (20.), Amsterdam (21.), Kyoto (22.), Hamburg (23.), Geneva (24.), Lisbon (25.).
Places Rated Almanac
| Savageau's Places Rated Almanac | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| City | |||
| 1 | Pittsburgh | ||
| 2 | San Francisco | ||
| 3 | Seattle | ||
| 4 | Portland | ||
| 5 | Philadelphia | ||
| 6 | Rochester NY | ||
| 7 | Washington DC | ||
| 8 | San Jose CA | ||
| 9 | Boston MA | ||
| 10 | Madison WI | ||
In the United States, Savageau's Places Rated Almanac, released in 2007 by David Savageau ranks 354 metropolitan areas.[3] The 2007 release was the 7th edition of the ratings, formerly called the Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac.
There are now nine categories on which cities are ranked: housing affordability (cost of living); transportation; jobs; education; climate; crime; health care; recreation; and ambience (museums, performing arts, restaurants and historical districts).
Pittsburgh was most recently ranked as the best place to live in the United States. The rankings tend to favor large metropolitan areas with history.[4] Thus, none of the top 10 cities in the rankings are in the Sun Belt. Five are in the Northeast, and four are on the West Coast. The 10th-ranked city, Madison Wis., is in the upper Midwest.
See also
References
External links
- Reader's Digest ranks Stockholm ahead of all other cities in the livability league
- Virtual globe images of Stockholm
- Economist Intelligence Unit's Liveability ranking 2009
- Mercer Limited article
- Monocle's World's Most Livable Cities Index 2009
- LivCom-Award
- 2007 Mercer QOL Survey results
- Vancouver tops liveability ranking according to a new survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit
- Vancouver, Melbourne and Vienna named world's most livable cities from CityMayors.com, regarding October 2005 EIU survey
- City Mayors: Swiss cities are best, Luxembourg is safest
- City Mayors: Vancouver, Melbourne, Vienna named best cities
- "Want to Move? Find the Best Places to Live" from About.com
- "Pittsburgh rated 'most livable' once again"
- AskMen.com Top 29 Best Cities to live in (online poll)
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