Amsterdam slips in latest quality of life ranking

While deemed the 3rd best capital city for 'quality of living' in the EU, the Dutch capital has nevertheless slipped a place from 12th to 13th in worldwide rankings, the latest survey conducted by HR consulting firm Mercer. Some 215 cities are covered by Mercer's 2006 quality of living survey, which is intended to help governments and multinationals in sending employees on international assignments.

Each city's rating is based on an evaluation of 39 criteria, including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services.

Cities are ranked against New York as the base city, which has an index score of 100. The world's top three cities remain unchanged from last year, with Zürich in first place with 108.2 points, slightly ahead of Geneva with 108.1, while Vancouver follows in third place with a score of 107.7. At the other end of the spectrum, Baghdad is the lowest-ranking city in the survey, scoring just 14.5 in a position unchanged from 2005.

Cities in Europe, Canada and Australia dominate the upper echelons of the rankings. In the US, 27th-placed Honolulu (down two places from 2005) is the top scorer with 103.2 points, while Houston is the lowest in 68th, unchanged from last year, with a tally of 95.4. London is the UK's highest-ranking city and is stable at position 39 (score 101.2).

The two other UK cities covered in the survey are Birmingham and Glasgow, which both score 98.3 and climb one place to joint 55th position. Although it slipped one place in the world rankings, Amsterdam's score remained unchanged at 105.7. The Belgian capital Brussels also maintained last year's score of 105.6.

Expatica.com