[photopress:zurich_at_its_most_charming.jpg,full,alignright]BusinessWeek Online ran a story on a survey of the world’s most livable cities. A new Mercer study ranks cities by the quality of life they offer expatriate executives and their families across the world.
What foreign postings are most coveted by expatriate executives? This global ranking of the world’s most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. (Any survey which refers to key quality-of-life issues is, in the writer’s opinion, suspect.) They include political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, quality of schooling, housing, the environment and public safety.
Mercer collected the data between September and November of 2006 and considered 215 cities around the globe. Switzerland’s main commercial and cultural center, (this last phrase is comparative with other cities in Switzerland) Zurich, topped the list this year, followed by Geneva. (A personal view is that I would rather live in a graveyard than Geneva — but that is a personal view. And, yes, I know the city well. My sister lives there although it should not be condemned just for that single reason.)
The first city in China to even get listed in the top 100 is Shanghai — and it came in last in the top century which is, in a sense, a sort of honor. The list then extends and Beijing has eased up to 116 from 121 where it was last year. Guangzhou was 131, Shenyang 145.
For the record all time bottom was Brazzaville, the capital city of the Republic of the Congo, and that might seem fair although the survey did not cover Cardiff or Birkenhead both of which would have been in there with a fighting chance.
In fact, you might almost take this listing in a reverse order. Some people might consider a city that appealed to expatriate executives should be avoided.
Source: Businessweek Online
You must log in to post a comment.