Brussels came in 27th in the world rankings for quality of life, thus maintaining its position held last year. The details emerge from the annual Quality of Living Ranking report, conducted by Mercer, in more than 400 cities worldwide. Vienna dominates the rankings for the 9th consecutive year, whilst Baghdad (Iraq) came in last.
For 20 years now, the study has offered employers an insight into the quality of life in the cities to which they send their expatriate workers. In total, 39 different factors are taken into account, such as the political and socio-economic situation, education and healthcare.
Eight of the Top 10 cities are European: Vienna (1st) Zurich (2nd), Munich (3rd), Düsseldorf (6th), Frankfurt (7th), Geneva (8th), Copenhagen (9th) and Basel (10th). The other large cities leading the rankings are Auckland (equal 3rd place with Munich), Vancouver (5th) and Sydney (joint 10th with Basel).
Mercer is convinced, “Despite the economic instability reigning in Europe, the uncertainty around Brexit and even the widespread political volatility in the region, the quality of life of European cities remains the highest in the world.”
Brussels maintains its position. The consultancy states, “Amongst the capitals of neighbouring countries, only Paris (39th) receives a worse rating than Brussels. Amsterdam, Berlin and Luxembourg respectively scoop 12th, 13th and 18th positions in the table.”
The Belgian capital has its lowest score for “traffic congestion” and could still improve upon “air quality” and “internal stability”, should it wish to obtain a better ranking in the future.
At the same time as its Quality of Living Ranking report, Mercer has also published rankings for “City Sanitation”, which assesses the cities surveyed according to hygiene. Factors included here are drainage and water sanitation, the presence of infectious diseases, air pollution levels, water availability, water quality and other facets.
Whilst Brussels is in 39th position, particularly owing to mixed results for air quality, the Hawaiian capital, Honolulu, ends up ahead of Helsinki and Ottawa, both in joint second position. Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Port-au-Prince (Haiti) bring up the rear of these rankings in 230th and 231st positions.
The Brussels Times
