SINGAPORE: The Republic has been ranked 25th on the
Mercer's Quality of Living survey - beating cities like Tokyo and
Hong Kong to be the highest-ranked Asian city in terms of quality
of living and safety.
Vienna topped the list of 221 cities, while Baghdad
came in last. Singapore rose in the rankings after coming in 28th
last year.
The worldwide rankings are announced annually and
are based on the Worldwide Quality of Living Survey done by human
resource consultancy Mercer.
It ranks the cities in the world according to the living conditions
in the countries - which include factors like public transport,
housing, climate and schools.
Singapore's closest neighbours Johor Baru came in at 101th place
while Kuala Lumpur was ranked 76th. Other major cities in Asia that
were ranked in the top 100 include Tokyo (46th), Hong Kong (70th),
Seoul (80th) and Taipei (85th).
This year, the survey also differentiated the countries in terms of
safety - looking at internal stability, crime levels, the
effectiveness of law enforcement and international relations of the
country the city is in.
Luxembourg topped this list, while Singapore came in eighth - the
only Asian country in the top 30. Five Japanese cities - Tokyo,
Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama and Osaka - came in at 31st place.
Close on Singapore's heels are Auckland and Wellington, tied in
ninth place.
Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru both came in 75th in the safety
ranking.
The list is meant to help multinational companies decide where to
open offices and make decisions on their employees' wages.
New York City is used as the baseline city from which the other
cities are compared against.
-- TODAY
