Bucharest has moved down two places in Mercer’s 2019 edition of the “Quality of living city ranking” survey, coming in at 109 out of 231 ranked cities. For the tenth year in a row, Austrian capital Vienna topped the ranking, followed by Zurich (Switzerland), while joint third place went to Vancouver (Canada), Auckland (Australia) and Munich (Germany).
Mercer’s analysis of city quality of life takes into account the following factors:
- Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.).
- Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services).
- Socio-cultural environment (media availability and censorship, limitations on personal freedom).
- Medical and health considerations (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution).
- Schools and education (standards and availability of international schools).
- Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transportation, traffic congestion, etc.).
- Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure).
- Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars).
- Housing (rental housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services).
- Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters).
Here is the top 10:
Bucharest ranked 109th, coming in below Brasilia (107) and San Jose (108) and above Noumea (110) and Doha (110).
Singapore (25), Montevideo (78) and Port Louis (83) retain their status as the highest ranking cities in Asia, South America and Africa respectively.
“As many as 13 of the world’s top 20 spots were taken by European cities The major European capitals of Berlin (13), Paris (39) and London (41) remained static in the rankings this year, while Madrid (46) rose three places and Rome (56) climbed one. Minsk (188), Tirana (175) and St. Petersburg (174) remained the lowest ranking cities in Europe this year, while Sarajevo (156) rose three places due to a fall in reported crime,” Mercer’s press release read.
The safest city in Europe was Luxembourg (1), followed by Basel, Bern, Helsinki and Zurich in joint second. Moscow (200) and St. Petersburg (197) were Europe’s least safe cities this year.
Full ranking here.