Vienna most liveable city, says survey
Pune is better than Mumbai or Delhi in terms of livability, according to a quality of life survey conducted by Mercer, a human resources consulting firm.
Hyderabad — ranked 139th — was the highest-ranked city from India, followed by Pune, which was ranked 144th while Mumbai and New Delhi ranked 152nd and 161st respectively, among 230 cities in the world.
The survey has noted that the increase in population in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi in recent times has aggravated various existing civic problems such as air pollution, lack of access to clean drinking water and traffic congestion.
Even Beijing, one of the most polluted cities in the globe ranked 137th with Colombo in Sri Lanka at 132 — both higher than any other Indian city.
Also, among Asian cities, Singapore, which is ranked 26, tops the list, followed by Tokyo along with four cities in Japan. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia occupies the 84th spot.
The survey further stated, “Vienna, Austria’s grand capital on the Dabube river, offers the highest quality of life among all the cities in the world. While at 230, Baghdad, which is the capital city of Iraq and is disturbed by the ongoing violence of the ISIS, occupies the last spot on the list.”
Bangui in the Central African Republic, Sana’a in Yemen, Port-au-Prince in Haiti and Khartoum in Sudan were ranked 229th, 228th, 227th and 226th respectively.
The annual survey is prepared so that it can help companies and organisations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff.
It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation, transport, and medical and health considerations and housing, while conducting the survey.
In 2015, the Mercer survey on quality of life evaluated more than 440 cities around the world for the assessment and Vienna made it to the top of the list in 2015 as well.
Hyderabad ranked 138th, Pune 144th, Mumbai 152nd and New Delhi 154th in the survey conducted in 2015.
