World's most livable cities

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). The list does not necessarily include factors such as entertainment.


Mercer's Quality of Living Survey is released annually, comparing 221 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, health care, culture, environment, recreation, political-economic stability and public transportation.[1]

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 2010 list for city, the top is dominated by cities from Europe, with several entries from Canada, Scotland, 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 31, Singapore at 22 and Japan at 37. Baghdad was at the bottom of the list. Of the 25 cities at the bottom, 15 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.

2010 year’s ranking also identifies the cities with the best eco-ranking based on water availability and drinkability, waste removal, quality of sewage systems, air pollution and traffic congestion. Calgary is at the top of this index (score 145.7), followed by Honolulu in second place (score 145.1) and Ottawa and Helsinki in joint third (score 139.9). Wellington in New Zealand (5), Minneapolis (6), Adelaide (7) and Copenhagen fill the next four slots, while Kobe, Oslo and Stockholm share ninth place. Port-au-Prince in Haiti ranks at the bottom of this table with a score of only 27.8.[2]