Business
Vienna world No. 1, Hyderabad best in India for quality of living
London, March 4
Austrian capital Vienna
emerged as the city with the best quality of living in the world, while
Hyderabad, ranked 138th, was the best Indian city to live in, according
to the Mercer Quality of Living Rankings 2015 released on Wednesday.
Overall,
European cities dominate the rankings along with major cities in
Australia and New Zealand, according to the Mercer website.
Zurich
(Switzerland), Auckland (New Zealand) and Munich (Germany) are in the
second, third, and fourth positions respectively. In the fifth place,
Vancouver (Canada) is the highest-ranking city in North America and the
region's only entry in the top 10.
Singapore, in 25th place, is the highest ranking city in Asia.
Among
Indian cities, Pune (145) came in second to Hyderabad. Both cities rank
higher for quality of living than the country's more traditional
business centres, Mumbai (152) and New Delhi (154). Considerable rise in
population in Mumbai and New Delhi in the last few decades has
increased existing problems, including access to clean water, air
pollution and traffic congestion.
Sri Lankan capital Colombo,
with a rank of 132nd, is the city with the best quality of living in
South Asia, while Japanese capital Tokyo (44) topped the ranking among
East Asian cities.
The report also took note of the emerging cities in East Asia: Cheonan (98) in South Korea, and Taichung (99) in Taiwan.
Chinese
cities Xi'an and Chongqing (both ranked 142nd) are also emerging as
business destinations. Their main challenges to improving quality of
living standards are clean water provision and air pollution.
However, advances in the telecommunication and consumer sectors have had some positive offsetting effects on their ranking.
Despite
concerns about economic growth, the cities of western Europe continue
to offer a stable environment for employees and employers. Western
European cities take seven places in the top 10. The lowest ranking
cities in western Europe are Belfast (63) in Northern Ireland and Athens
(85) in Greece.
San Francisco (27), Boston (34), and Honolulu (36) are the highest-ranking US cities.
Dubai (74) ranks highest for quality of living across the Middle East and Africa region.
Ranked 230th, Baghdad is the lowest ranking city in the region and on the overall list.
The
annual survey is conducted to “help multinational companies and other
employers compensate employees fairly when placing them on international
assignmentsâ€.
Slagin Parakatil, principal at Mercer said:
“Cultures, societies, and comparatively different climates, as well as
political instability, high crime rates, and poor infrastructure can be
difficult to navigate and settle down in for employees and their
families.â€