Bangalore better than Delhi, Mumbai in quality of living: Survey

Bangalore ranks better than New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata amongst Indian cities in overall global quality of living index, according to a Mercer 2012 Quality of Living Survey.

Mercer conducts this survey annually to help multinational companies and other organisations compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. According to the global consulting firm, its Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city.

Global ranking by infrastructure

This year’s ranking separately identifies the cities with the best infrastructure based on electricity supply, water availability, telephone and mail services, public transportation, traffic congestion and the range of international flights from local airports, a statement said.

Singapore is at the top of this index, followed by Frankfurt and Munich. Copenhagen (4) and Dusseldorf (5) fill the next two slots, while Hong Kong and London share sixth place. Port-au-Prince (221) ranks at the bottom of the list.

Indian cities

Bangalore’s overall quality of living rank went up from 141 in 2011 to 139 in 2012 and is highest amongst other Indian cities. While New Delhi ranks (143), Mumbai (146), Chennai (150), and Kolkata (151) in overall Quality of living.

Bangalore’s rise in its quality of living ranking can be attributed to positive ratings for international schools which are suitable for expatriates, the survey says.

Mumbai ranks highest on city infrastructure category (134) amongst Indian cities followed by Kolkata (141), New Delhi (153), Chennai (168), and Bangalore (170).

Vienna retains top slot

In a statement issued here, Mercer said, Vienna retains the top spot as the city with the world’s best quality of living. Zurich and Auckland follow in the second and third place, respectively. Munich is in the fourth place, followed by Vancouver, which ranks fifth.

Düsseldorf dropped one spot to rank sixth followed by Frankfurt in seventh, Geneva in eighth, Copenhagen in ninth, and Bern and Sydney tied for the 10th place.

Asia-Pacific cities

Qualifying the Asia-Pacific cities, the survey says that Australian and New Zealand cities rank higher on the index with Sydney (11), Wellington (13), Melbourne (18) and Perth (21) following Auckland (3).

At the bottom

Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan (217); N’Djamena, Chad (218); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (219); and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq (221) ranks last.

Region-wise

Honolulu (28) is the city in the United States with the highest quality of living, followed by San Francisco (29) and Boston (35). Chicago is at 42 and Washington, DC ranks 43. New York, the base city, ranks 44.

In terms of city infrastructure, Vancouver (9) tops the ranking for the region with Atlanta and Montreal following at 13. In the United States, Dallas ranked 15, followed by Washington, DC (22), Chicago (28) and New York (30).

Europe has 15 cities among the world’s top 25 cities for quality of living. Vienna retains the highest-ranking for both the region and globally. With six cities in the top 10, European cities also fare well in the city infrastructure ranking.