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.
