The capital of Austria, Vienna, occupies the first place for ninth consecutive year in the ranking of the cities of the world with the highest quality of life that the consulting company of human resources Mercer elaborates since 20 years ago, published recently.
The second city in this list is Zurich (Switzerland), and the third place is shared by Auckland (New Zealand) and Munich (Germany). The fifth place in the ranking is for the Canadian city of Vancouver.
Barcelona is ranked number 43 in this list, while Madrid appears a few positions later, at number 49 of the list. They are the two Spanish cities included in the Mercer study.
The city that leads the list, Vienna, stands out for its high security, the quality of public transportion and the variety of its cultural offer and leisure time. In the case of Munich, the Mercer study reveals that it has improved its position in the ranking thanks to its commitment to improve the technological infrastructure and its entertainment offer.
The Mercer study aims to serve as a guide for multinational companies and other organizations to adequately compensate professionals displaced to other countries. The ranking includes 231 cities, although Mercer offers recommendations for more than 450 cities.
The first Asian city in this ranking of quality of life is Singapore, but it does not appear until the 25th place. In the case of Latin America, the best positioned city is the capital of Uruguay, Montevideo, which is ranked 77th overall , and the second one is Buenos Aires (91).
The British capital, London, does not appear until position 41 of the ranking because of its traffic problems and pollution.
In North America, several Canadian cities are ahead of cities in the United States, where San Francisco (30) is the first, followed by Boston (35), Honolulu (36), Seattle (44) and New York (45). .
This year, the Mercer study offers a specific ranking on the sanitation of cities. This classification is led by Honolulu, the capital of the state of Hawaii (United States), followed by Helsinki (Finland) and Ottawa (Canada), which share the second place.
