World-wide quality of living survey

World-wide quality of living survey
United Kingdom
London, 10 April 2006

* Zurich scores highest for quality of living, Baghdad ranks lowest

* Cities in Canada, Europe and Australia dominate the top of the
rankings

* Honolulu is the highest ranking city in the US; Houston is the
lowest

* London remains at position 39; Birmingham and Glasgow both climb
one place to joint 55th position

Zurich ranks as the world's top city for quality of living, according
to a survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The city scores 108.2
and is only marginally ahead of Geneva, which scores 108.1, while
Vancouver follows in third place with a score of 107.7. In contrast,
Baghdad is the lowest ranking city in the survey, scoring just 14.5.

The analysis is part of an annual World-wide Quality of Living Survey,
covering more than 350 cities, to help governments and multinational
companies place employees on international assignments. Each city is
based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social,
economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health,
education, transport, and other public services. Cities are ranked
against New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100.

"When multinational companies set up expatriate assignments they have
to provide attractive reward packages to compensate employees for any
negative changes to their quality of living," Yvonne Sonsino,
Principal at Mercer, commented. "Moving abroad can be a big upheaval
for expatriates and their families, so international assignments tend
to carry large price tags, particularly if they are in cities with low
living standards facing political unrest or terrorist threats." She
added: "Many companies use benchmark data to help them structure pay
deals at the right level."
Europe and the Middle East

Almost half the top 30 scoring cities are in Western Europe. In this
region, Vienna follows Zurich and Geneva in 4th position with a score
of 107.5. Other highly-rated cities include Düsseldorf (107.2),
Frankfurt (107.0) and Munich (106.8) in positions 6, 7 and 8
respectively. Athens remains the lowest scoring city in Western Europe,
scoring 86.8 at position 79.

London is the UK's highest ranking city and is stable at position 39
(score 101.2). The two other UK cities covered in the survey are
Birmingham and Glasgow, which both score 98.3 and climb one place to
joint 55th position.

Dublin has dropped two places to 24th position, scoring 103.8, mainly
due to increased traffic congestion.

As predicted, cities in Eastern Europe such as Budapest, Ljubljana,
Prague, Vilnius, Tallinn and Warsaw continue to benefit from
incremental score increases and are gradually climbing the rankings.

"The standard of living in many Eastern European cities is gradually
improving, as the countries that most recently joined the EU attract
greater investment," commented Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at
Mercer. "Yet cities such as Dubai may still offer a wider variety of
facilities demanded by expatriates - for example, well-connected
international airports and better opportunities for recreation and
leisure activities - compared to many Eastern European cities."

Positions for most cities in Europe and the Middle East are generally
unchanged, with the exception of Cairo which has tumbled nine places to
position 131 and scores 71.2 due to the political turmoil and terrorist
attacks in the city and surrounding area.

Baghdad ranks as the least attractive city for expatriates for a third
consecutive year, with a score of 14.5.
Americas

Honolulu, the highest ranking city in the U.S., drops two positions to
27th with a score of 103.3. San Francisco remains at 28th position and
scores 103.2. Boston, Washington, Chicago and Portland follow in
positions 36, 41, 41 and 43 respectively (scores 101.9, 100.4, 100.4
and 100.3) while Houston remains the lowest ranking city in the U.S. at
position 68 (score 95.4). Overall, U.S. cities continue to slip
slightly or remain stable in the rankings, except Chicago which has
moved up 11 places due to decreased crime rates.

"Economies in the developed world tend to be relatively stable
overall. Fluctuations in the quality of living in these regions are
usually driven by factors such as increased air pollution, crime rates
and traffic congestion, or external events like terrorism, disease
outbreaks or natural disasters," said Mr. Parakatil.

In South America, scores vary considerably due to differences in
economic and political stability. "Argentina's steady economic
recovery is likely to push its cities up in the rankings in the next
few years," commented Mr. Parakatil.
Asia-Pacific

Auckland and Wellington have both moved up the rankings from 8th to 5th
and 14th to 12th places respectively, mainly due to strong internal
stability relative to other cities, while Sydney remains at position 9
with a score of 106.5.

In Asia, Singapore ranks 34th (score 102.5) followed by Tokyo,
Japan's highest scoring city, at position 35 (score 102.3). Hong
Kong's modern and efficient infrastructure, including its airport
(which is considered one of best in the world), has pushed it up from
70th to 68th position with a score of 95.4.

The top-ranking city in China is Shanghai in 103rd place (score 80.1).
"Beijing and Shanghai are on the rise and should experience rapid
improvements in quality of living in the coming years. This is mainly
due to greater international investment driven by the availability and
lower cost of labour and manufacturing expertise," explained Mr.
Parakatil.

Though cities in India generally rank lower than their Chinese
counterparts, they are also showing signs of development in the region.

"The quality of living in Indian cites such as Mumbai and Bangalore
is increasing slowly but steadily, primarily due to India's improved
political relationships with other countries," said Mr. Parakatil.
"Investment from multinationals setting up operations in India may
prompt further improvements, boost economic growth and contribute to
economic stability. In turn, this will encourage the local authorities
to focus on improving quality of living standards."

Other low-ranking cities for overall quality of living include Congo in
Brazzaville (score 30.3) and Bangui in the Central African Republic and
Khartoum in Sudan (30.6 and 31.7).

Mercer has released a new report called Managing Quality of Living for
Expatriates, which provides information to enable HR professionals and
others to understand the importance of assessing worldwide standards of
living, including personal safety and security, health issues,
cleanliness and pollution, and transportation. More than 100 cities
have been selected from Western and Eastern Europe, North and South
America, Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim. For more
information, please visit www.mercerhr.com/qualityofliving. Copies of
individual city reports can also be purchased from this site.

Notes: Data was collected largely between September and November 2005
and is updated regularly to take account of changing circumstances. In
particular, the assessments will be revised in the case of any new
developments. Only 215 cities have been considered in the Quality of
Living 2006 rankings.

The worldwide rankings are produced from the most recent worldwide
quality of living survey, conducted by Mercer Human Resource
Consulting. Individual reports are produced for each city surveyed, but
please note that there is no overall summary report available. The cost
of comparative quality of living indexes between a base city and a host
city is 300 euro (multiple city comparisons are available). Further
information and copies of the reports are available from Client
Services, Mercer Client Services, on +41 22 869 3000. Also, visit the
Mercer website on www.imercer.com/qol.

Toots Thielemans wrote:
World-wide quality of living survey
United Kingdom
London, 10 April 2006

* Zurich scores highest for quality of living, Baghdad ranks lowest

* Cities in Canada, Europe and Australia dominate the top of the
rankings

* Honolulu is the highest ranking city in the US; Houston is the
lowest

That's such crap. Houston is a great place to live, I speak from
experience rather than some survey that apparently has a stupid way of
assigning scores.

On 15 Jul 2006 13:55:57 -0700, "JP" wrote:

Toots Thielemans wrote:
World-wide quality of living survey
United Kingdom
London, 10 April 2006

* Zurich scores highest for quality of living, Baghdad ranks lowest

* Cities in Canada, Europe and Australia dominate the top of the
rankings

* Honolulu is the highest ranking city in the US; Houston is the
lowest

That's such crap. Houston is a great place to live, I speak from
experience rather than some survey that apparently has a stupid way of
assigning scores.

Perhaps it's you that has a stupid way of evaluating quality of life?
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

On 15 Jul 2006 13:55:57 -0700, JP wrote:

That's such crap. Houston is a great place to live, I speak from
experience rather than some survey that apparently has a stupid way of
assigning scores.

Wow, way to resurrect a thread that's been dead for two months! Then
again, it got derailled right away the first time. The original links are
dead.

Quality of living survey:
http://www.mercerhr.com/attachment.d...2006_table.pdf

Cost of living survey:
http://www.mercerhr.com/attachment.d...mary_table.pdf

You'll have to understand how to deal with wrapped text to use these URLs.

The survey makes sense to me, except that it didn't include cost of
living. While it might be nice to live in Zurich or Geneva, it is also
quite expensive. Many cities show up on both lists. This is tailored for
companies setting up expatriate assignments, so job availability isn't
considered (though it is generally a huge concern for most people).

Its interesting that Germany shows up six times on the quality of living
to 50 (three in the top 10), but doesn't show up at all in the cost of
living top 50.

I guess the best place (for those who aren't wealthy) is a city on the
quality of living top 50, but not on the cost of living top 50 list. I'm
happy to be in one of those!

--
-BB-
To e-mail me, unmunge my address

In article , BB
wrote:

Its interesting that Germany shows up six times on the quality of living
to 50 (three in the top 10), but doesn't show up at all in the cost of
living top 50.

Doesn't surprise me. I've done a lot of traveling in Germany and go into
shock at prices in other places that interest me.

--
Mary Loomer Oliver (aka Erilar),
philologist, biblioholic medievalist

http://www.airstreamcomm.net/~erilarlo

The survey makes sense to me, except that it didn't include cost of
living. While it might be nice to live in Zurich or Geneva, it is also
quite expensive. Many cities show up on both lists. This is tailored for
companies setting up expatriate assignments, so job availability isn't
considered (though it is generally a huge concern for most people).

A lot of these surveys assume not only a job, but also a top 1% salary,
like $150,000. For example, a bank or other major corporation that
sends lots of their staff abroad would want to know what someone making
$150,000 in London or New York would need to maintain the lifestyle
they expect if they were sent to Moscow or Mumbai or Sao Paulo. In
some countries that might include a guarded apartment building or
special foreigners compound, private international schools for the
kids, an "American club" or "British club" for the spouse, and a car
and driver and maid.

Its interesting that Germany shows up six times on the quality of living
to 50 (three in the top 10), but doesn't show up at all in the cost of
living top 50.

I don't think German cities are that expensive compared to many other
cities in Western Europe or in East Asia with much more limited housing
in the city centers, or US cities where they would assume that someone
with a high salary would live in an expensive suburb and would need a
car. And many cities in Africa or the poorer parts of Asia can be very
expensive for someone who wants a Western lifestyle there.

Dave Frightens Me wrote:
On 15 Jul 2006 13:55:57 -0700, "JP" wrote:

Toots Thielemans wrote:
World-wide quality of living survey
United Kingdom
London, 10 April 2006

* Zurich scores highest for quality of living, Baghdad ranks lowest

* Cities in Canada, Europe and Australia dominate the top of the
rankings

* Honolulu is the highest ranking city in the US; Houston is the
lowest

That's such crap. Houston is a great place to live, I speak from
experience rather than some survey that apparently has a stupid way of
assigning scores.

Perhaps it's you that has a stupid way of evaluating quality of life?

Why don't you look at some of the other cities that rank ahead of
Houston (i.e. Detroit) and tell me if you still think that way.

"JP" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dave Frightens Me wrote:
On 15 Jul 2006 13:55:57 -0700, "JP" wrote:

Toots Thielemans wrote:
World-wide quality of living survey
United Kingdom
London, 10 April 2006

* Zurich scores highest for quality of living, Baghdad ranks
lowest

* Cities in Canada, Europe and Australia dominate the top of the
rankings

* Honolulu is the highest ranking city in the US; Houston is the
lowest

That's such crap. Houston is a great place to live, I speak from
experience rather than some survey that apparently has a stupid way of
assigning scores.

Perhaps it's you that has a stupid way of evaluating quality of life?

Don't think so.

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Books/BestPlacesToLive.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas

Canada often seems to score in these surveys - but with those winters!?

Surreyman

Following up to JP

Houston is a great place to live, I speak from
experience rather than some survey that apparently has a stupid way of
assigning scores.

At a wedding, a group of three Texans and an expat Brit all
agreed Houston was a town with no soul, or if it had one, you
didnt want to see it. They were pretty scathing of the place.
So I think theres a case for dissing Houston.
--
Mike Reid
Walk-eat-photos UK "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Walk-eat-photos Spain "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk" -- dontuse@ all, it's a spamtrap

a.spencer3 wrote:

"JP" wrote in message
oups.com...

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Books/BestPlacesToLive.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_Texas


Canada often seems to score in these surveys - but with those winters!?

Victoria and Vancouver, both in British Columbia, have mild winters.
Not much snow, mostly rain, and not a lot of days with below-freezing
weather.
--
dgs