According to the independent UK organization Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the Canadian city of Vancouver has been found in 2005 as the most livable city in the world, followed by Melbourne (Australia) and Vienna (Austria).

The EIU looked at more than one hundred cities in terms of infrastructure, personal risk, availability of goods and services, and other factors, such as the low risk for terror attacks. The survey takes over 40 factors into consideration which are weighted across five different categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Cities from Canada, Australia and Western Europe top the list. The survey has produced a mixed picture of the world’s cities. Continue reading »

The 2007 Quality of Living Survey of Mercer Human Resource Consulting also provides a Health and Sanitation Ranking, with the top 50 cities in the world. According to this survey, Calgary (Canada) ranks first, followed by Honolulu (USA) and Helsinki (Finland).

The ranking considered basically factors for healthcare and quality of living: availability of affordable hospital services and medical supplies, absence or treatement of infectious diseases, water potability, troublesome and destructive animals/insects, waste removal, sewage and air quality, pollution. Continue reading »

The 2007 Quality of Living Survey of Mercer Human Resource Consulting places Zurich on the top spot, followed by another city of Switzerland, Geneva, the Canadian Vancouver sharing the third place with Vienna (Austria).

The quality-of-living rating has been established based on 39 factors. How welcome expatriates feel in these cities has been a major factor. This is also why you will find here plenty of cities from well economically developed countries that receive immigrants, such as Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Continue reading »

The 2008 Quality of Living Survey of Mercer Human Resource Consulting also provides a Ranking by Personal Safety, with the top 50 cities in the world. According to this survey, Luxembourg ranks first, followed by Helsinki (Finland) and three cities of Switzerland (Bern, Geneva and Zurich), all last four tied for the second place.

The survey identified those cities with the highest personal safety ranking based on relationships with other countries, internal stability, crime and effectiveness of law enforcement. Continue reading »

The 2008 Quality of Living Survey of Mercer Human Resource Consulting places again Zurich on the top spot, followed by another city of Switzerland, Geneva, which shares the second place with Vienna (Austria). At the top, thing are somehow similar to the 2007 ranking for quality of living: Vienna is the city which slightly moved up, but still being closely followed by the Canadian Vancouver.

The quality-of-living rating has been established based on 39 factors. It is important to remark that how welcome expatriates are feeling in these cities has been a major factor. Continue reading »