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City quality of life indices

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City Quality of Life Indices are lists of cities that are ranked according to a defined measure of living conditions. In addition to considering the provision of clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, many indexes also measure more subjective elements including a city's capacity to generate a sense of community and offer hospitable settings for all, especially young people, to develop social skills, a sense of autonomy and identity.[1]

The reason some cities appear in one ranking but not another is often related to the different criteria used between rankings, but more commonly it is related the difference in weighting given to similar factors.[2]

The EIU's Global Liveability Ranking

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Main article: Global Liveability Ranking

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) publishes an annual Global Liveability Ranking, which ranks 140 cities for their urban quality of life based on assessments of their stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure.[3]

Melbourne, Australia, had been ranked by the EIU as the world's most livable city for seven years in a row, from 2011 to 2017.[4] Between 2004 and 2010, Vancouver, Canada, was ranked the EIU's most livable city, with Melbourne sharing first place in the inaugural 2002 report. Vancouver has ranked third since 2015, while Vienna, Austria, ranked second until 2018 when it climbed to the top spot.

The Syrian capital, Damascus, was ranked the least livable city of the 173 assessed in 2024.[5][6]

The EIU also publishes a Worldwide Cost of Living Survey that compares the cost of living in a range of global cities.[7]

EIU's Global Liveability Ranking 2024[8]
Rank City Country/Region
1 Vienna  Austria
2 Copenhagen  Denmark
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Melbourne  Australia
5 Calgary  Canada
- Geneva   Switzerland
7 Sydney  Australia
- Vancouver  Canada
9 Osaka  Japan
- Auckland  New Zealand
11 Adelaide  Australia
12 Toronto  Canada
13 Helsinki  Finland
14 Tokyo  Japan
15 Perth  Australia
16 Brisbane  Australia
17 Frankfurt  Germany
18 Luxembourg  Luxembourg
19 Amsterdam  Netherlands
20 Wellington  New Zealand

Monocle's Quality of Life Survey

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Since 2006, the lifestyle magazine Monocle has published an annual list of livable cities. The list in 2008 was named "The Most Livable Cities Index" and presented 20 top locations for quality of life.

Important criteria in this survey are safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, quality of architecture, public transport, tolerance, environmental issues and access to nature, urban design, business conditions, proactive policy developments and medical care.

The 2024 Monocle Survey determined the world's most livable city was Munich, followed by Vienna and Zürich.[9]

Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2024[9]
Rank City Country/Region
1 Munich  Germany
2 Vienna  Austria
3 Zürich   Switzerland
4 Copenhagen  Denmark
5 Madrid  Spain
6 Lisbon  Portugal
7 Tokyo  Japan
8 Melbourne  Australia
9 Stockholm  Sweden
10 Paris  France
11 Helsinki  Finland
12 Kyoto  Japan
13 Oslo  Norway
14 Amsterdam  Netherlands
15 Sydney  Australia
16 Barcelona  Spain
17 Berlin  Germany
18 Singapore  Singapore
19 Milan  Italy
20 Athens  Greece

Mercer's Quality of Living Ranking

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American global human resources and related financial services consulting firm Mercer annually releases its Mercer Quality of Living Survey, comparing 221 cities based on 39 criteria. New York City is given a baseline score of 100 and other cities are rated in comparison. Important criteria are safety, education, hygiene, health care, culture, environment, recreation, political-economic stability, public transport and access to goods and services. The list is intended to help multinational companies decide where to open offices or plants, and how much to pay employees. Mercer has ranked Austria's capital Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey since 2009.

Mercer's Quality of Living Ranking 2023[10]
Rank City Country/Region
1 Vienna  Austria
2 Zürich   Switzerland
3 Auckland  New Zealand
4 Copenhagen  Denmark
5 Geneva   Switzerland
6 Frankfurt  Germany
7 Munich  Germany
8 Vancouver  Canada
9 Sydney  Australia
10 Düsseldorf  Germany
11 The Hague  Netherlands
12 Wellington  New Zealand
13 Bern   Switzerland
14 Basel   Switzerland
14 Amsterdam  Netherlands
16 Luxembourg  Luxembourg
17 Toronto  Canada
18 Berlin  Germany
18 Ottawa  Canada
20 Montreal  Canada
20 Melbourne  Australia
22 Perth  Australia
23 Calgary  Canada
24 Oslo  Norway
25 Hamburg  Germany

The full ranking includes 241 cities.

Movingto Global Liveability Index

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This index uses data to score stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. The results are combined into a final livability index. [11]

Movingto Global Liveability Index 2024 [12]
Rank City Country/Region
1 Vienna  Austria
2 Melbourne  Australia
3 Vancouver  Canada
4 Toronto  Canada
5 Calgary  Canada
6 Zurich   Switzerland
7 Geneva   Switzerland
8 Frankfurt  Germany
9 Copenhagen  Denmark
10 Amsterdam  Netherlands
11 Osaka  Japan
12 Paris  France
13 Sydney  Australia
14 Stockholm  Sweden
15 London  United Kingdom
16 Tokyo  Japan
17 Singapore  Singapore
18 Helsinki  Finland
19 Brisbane  Australia
20 Hamburg  Germany
21 Wellington  New Zealand
22 Hong Kong  China
23 Berlin  Germany
24 Munich  Germany
25 Lyons  France

Numbeo's Quality of Life Ranking

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Numbeo is a crowd-sourced global database of reported consumer prices, perceived crime rates, quality of health care, among other statistics. The rankings are updated twice per year. [13]

Numbeo's Quality of Life Index 2024 Mid-Year [14]
Rank City Country/Region
1 The Hague  Netherlands
2 Luxembourg  Luxembourg
3 Eindhoven  Netherlands
4 Rotterdam  Netherlands
5 Zürich   Switzerland
6 Copenhagen  Denmark
7 Vienna  Austria
8 Helsinki  Finland
9 Geneva   Switzerland
10 Frankfurt  Germany
11 Stuttgart  Germany
12 Amsterdam  Netherlands
13 Perth  Australia
14 Reykjavík  Iceland
15 Brisbane  Australia
16 Austin, TX  United States
17 Abu Dhabi  United Arab Emirates
18 Melbourne  Australia
19 Valencia  Spain
20 Seattle, WA  United States

The full ranking includes 242 cities.

Happy City Index

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The Happy City Index produced by the Institue for Quality of Life uses 23 different areas of activity, divided into five key categories to determine the overall sense of happiness among residents directly relating to their quality of life. The ranking includes all cities whose activities can be measured based on objective, transparent, and verifiable data. It also highlights cities that demonstrate exceptional achievements in terms of quality of life. [15]

Happy City Index 2024 [16]
Rank City Country/Region
1 Aarhus  Denmark
2 Zurich   Switzerland
3 Berlin  Germany
4 Gothenburg  Sweden
5 Amsterdam  Netherlands
6 Helsinki  Finland
7 Bristol  United Kingdom
8 Copenhagen  Denmark
9 Geneva   Switzerland
10 Munich  Germany
11 Stockholm  Sweden
12 Rotterdam  Netherlands
13 Oulu  Finland
14 Vienna  Austria
15 Edinburgh  United Kingdom
16 Reykjavik  Iceland
17 Aalborg  Denmark
18 Minneapolis  United States
19 Basel   Switzerland
20 Alesund  Norway
21 Brisbane  Australia
22 Bruges  Belgium
23 Luxembourg  Luxembourg
24 Bordeaux  France
25 Cork  Ireland

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Caves, R. W. (2004). Encyclopedia of the City. Routledge. p. 434. ISBN 9780415252256.
  2. ^ Vingerhoets, Ad (28 February 2013), "Why some people cry more often than others", Why Only Humans Weep, Oxford University Press, pp. 162–186, doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570240.003.0009, ISBN 978-0-19-857024-0, retrieved 22 July 2023
  3. ^ "Global Liveability Ranking 2016". www.eiu.com. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  4. ^ Stephanie Chalkley-Rhoden (16 August 2017). "World's most liveable city: Melbourne takes top spot for the seventh year running". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  5. ^ "Coronavirus: Auckland ranked most liveable city as pandemic shifts list". BBC News. 9 June 2021.
  6. ^ "The Global Liveability Index 2022" (PDF). The Economist Intelligence Unit. 2022.
  7. ^ "The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey". www.eiu.com. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  8. ^ "The world's most liveable cities in 2024". The Economist. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Paradise cities | Monocle: Issue 165".
  10. ^ Quality of living city ranking 2023 - Mercer
  11. ^ https://www.movingto.io/global-liveability-index
  12. ^ https://www.movingto.io/global-liveability-index
  13. ^ "About Quality of Life Indices At This Website". www.numbeo.com. Retrieved 10 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Quality of Life Index by City 2023". www.numbeo.com. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
  15. ^ https://happy-city-index.com/Metholodogy/happycityindex.html
  16. ^ https://happy-city-index.com/
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