What are the greatest cities in the world? That may be quite a tough choice to make but one thing is that there are some cities with a good reputation. Some people such as Ernest Hemingway have referred to Paris as a “moveable feast” and support this by saying that the city stays with an individual for life. They even make statements such as “getting tire with London means getting tired with life.” There are so many pride-filled references that have been made to New York City.
In 2016, the world greatest cities remain remarkable but probably they are not so great to live in them. In recent findings by Mercer Quality of Living, London, Paris and New York do not feature on the cities with favorable livable situations.
The top 25 list is as follows:
25. Nurnberg, Germany
24. Toronto, Canada
23. Stuttgart, Germany
22. Montreal, Canada
21. Perth, Australia
20. Brussels, Belgium
19. Stockholm, Sweden
18. Ottawa, Canada
17. Hamburg, Germany
16. Luxembourg, Luxembourg
15. Melbourne. Australia
14. Bern, Switzerland
13. Berlin, Germany
12. Wellington, New Zealand
11. Amsterdam, Netherlands
10. Sydney, Australia
9. Copenhagen, Denmark
8. Geneva, Switzerland
7. Frankfurt, Germany
6. Dusseldorf, Germany
5. Vancouver, Canada
4. Munich Germany
3. Auckland, New Zealand
2. Zurich, Switzerland
1. Vienna, Austria
On this list, New York is at number 44, London at 39 and Paris at 37.
Washington D.C. on the other hand takes position 51. It is evident no American city has made it to top 25. San Francisco is the one that comes highest at position 28. The European and Scandinavian cities are the dominant here.
It is true that this ranking can be debated. The company makes the ranking with the intention of assisting international firms know how much they should pay their employees for them to go to specific areas. Even though they do not make available the exact formula that they implement, they Mercer indicate the manner in which each city is ranked. They look at elements such as socio-cultural environment as well as how easily available are the consumer goods?
In the case of Paris, New York and London, personal safety may have contributed to their performance. On the Mercer list for personal safety, Paris is at position 71. London comes at 70. One thing to note is that the change in Paris security situation may have cost it dearly. If you do not concern yourself with this and other factors that Mercer uses for ranking, you may have a different opinion about the city’s ranking.
You may think that these cities have been viewed unfairly. However, a ranking that was designed by a rival company, the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranked Paris at 29 before they were attacked by the terrorists in November 2015. London took position 53.
Vienna comes first in the list. They may be excited with the ranking but probably not excited with the conditions.
An Austrian journalist said that the city is clean, safe and has a smooth traffic.