Vienna stood at the top spot as the city with the world's best quality of living, according to the Mercer 2012 Quality of Living Survey. Zurich and Auckland follow in second and third place, respectively. Among the Indian cities, Bangalore came in at the 139th position.
Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Haiti (219) and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq (221) ranks last.
HR consulting firm Mercer conducts this survey annually to help multinational companies and other organizations compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. Mercer’s Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city.
This year’s ranking separately has identified 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. Singapore is at the top of this index, followed by Frankfurt and Munich in second place.
"In order for multinational companies to ensure their expatriates are compensated appropriately and an adequate hardship allowance is included in compensation packages, they must be aware of current events and local circumstances," said Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer.
Amongst Indian cities, Bangalore (139) ranks higher than New Delhi (143), Mumbai (146), Chennai (150) and Kolkata (151) in overall Quality of living. The survey said that Bangalore's rise in its quality of living ranking can be attributed to positive ratings for international schools which are suitable for expatriates. On the city infrastructure rating Mumbai (134) ranks highest followed by Kolkata (141), New Delhi (153), Chennai (168) and Bangalore (170).
