Vancouver is fourth best city to live in and tops in Canada: Mercer

Zurich, Vienna and Geneva top three cities worldwide

Vancouver has the best quality of living in North America, ranking number four overall on Mercer’s 2008 Quality of Living Survey.

European cities dominate the worldwide rankings of 215 cities with Zurich at number one and Vienna and Geneva rounding out the top three.

“Europe dominates the list in terms of infrastructure, health and political stability. Large discrepancies continue to exist within this region. Living standards in Eastern European cities have been catching up with Western European cities," said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer.

Canadian cities dominate the rankings in the Americas. Vancouver leads the rankings, followed by Toronto (15), Ottawa (19), Montreal (22) and Calgary (25). In the United States, after Honolulu (28) comes San Francisco (29), Boston (37), Chicago (44), Washington (44) and New York (49).

The cities with the lowest quality of living are Ndjamena, Chad, at 211, Khartoum, Sudan, at 212, Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, at 213, and Bangui, the Central African Republic, at 214. Baghdad, Iraq, ranking 215, retains its position at the bottom of the table.
 
The survey also identifies those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on internal stability, crime, effectiveness of law enforcement and relationships with other countries. Luxembourg is top, followed by Bern, Geneva, Helsinki and Zurich, all equally placed at number two. Canadian cities rank higher than American cities with a ranking of 22, compared to 53 for cities in the U.S.

“Personal safety within Canadian cities ranks among the highest in the Americas region. This is due to a relatively low crime rate and a stable political environment. In contrast, many of the Latin American cities such as Caracas, Bogotá or Port au Prince continue to be undermined by crime and political and economic turmoil. Traffic congestion and pollution have also had an impact," said Parakatil.

Baghdad (215) is the world’s least safe city followed by Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Karachi, Pakistan, Nairobi, Kenya, and Bangui.

“Several regions of the Middle East have benefited enormously from government investment in infrastructure, health and sanitation and are rising up the rankings. However, personal safety and political tensions remain stumbling blocks and account for the low ranking of many of the region’s cities. Multinationals often compensate for this by increasing compensation levels and other benefits for their employees," said Parakatil.
  
“Increased political stability and the growth of China and India have led to a broad improvement in the quality of living for expatriates in some of the major cities. However, border conflicts and internal issues, combined with high levels of crime, make many other countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia less appealing relocation destinations.”

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