Vienna, here we come

Vienna, here we come

The Austrian capital tops Mercer’s Quality of Living survey.

April 29, 2009 3:27 by Dana El Baltaji

Vienna, Austria, offers the best quality of living in the world, according to a survey by US-based management consultancy firm Mercer published on Tuesday. The Austrian capital was ranked second last year, after Zurich, Switzerland.

The top 10 cities on Mercer’s Quality of Living list are: 1 Vienna, Austria; 2 Zurich, Switzerland; 3 Geneva, Switzerland; 4 Vancouver, Canada; 4 Auckland, new Zealand; 6 Dusseldorf, Germany; 7 Munich, Germany; 8 Frankfurt, Germany; 9 Bern, Switzerland; 10 Sydney, Australia.

Of all the Middle Eastern cities surveyed, Dubai and Abu Dhabi offer the best quality of living. Dubai was ranked at 77, up six places on 2008, and the highest ranked Arab city on the list. Abu Dhabi, the nation’s capital, was ranked 84, up three places on last year.

“Dubai’s transport facilities have witnessed improvements, with the development of its road infrastructure and expansion of its international airport,” Mercer’s website explained

Iraq’s troubled capital, Baghdad, was the lowest ranking city on the list at number 215.

“The Middle East as a region is continuously increasing in the Quality of Living rankings, especially in its infrastructure and recreation facilities,” said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer in a statement.

The rankings are based on a point scoring index using New York as the base city with an index of 100. Vienna scored 108.6, and Baghdad 14.4. The survey ranks 215 cities around the world.

In March 2009, a Dubai-based Arabic language magazine, Saneou Al Hadath, identified Abu Dhabi as the ‘Best Arab City’ in its annual survey. Dubai was ranked second.