Amsterdam ranks 13 for overall quality of living

AMSTERDAM - Western European and North American cities were amongst the highest scoring cities for health and sanitation, according to the 2007 Worldwide Quality of Living Survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The top 5 scoring cities for health and sanitation were predominantly North American, with Calgary coming in at number one. Helsinki was the only European city to make the top five coming in at 3rd. However, almost half of the top 30 scoring cities surveyed are in Western Europe. European capitals Amsterdam (21st), Berlin (45th), Brussels (36th), Madrid (56th) and Paris (60th), lagged behind Scandinavian cities. "The availability of public and private hospital care, together with modern medical infrastructure, means healthcare standards in Europe are generally very high,” said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer. The scores are based on availability and quality of hospital and medical supplies; levels of air pollution and infectious disease; efficiency of waste removal and sewage systems. Water potability and the presence of harmful animals and insects are also taken into account. "Companies managing a global workforce must take into account a range of factors when structuring remuneration packages for their expatriate employees," said Yvonne Sonsino, principal at Mercer. "Organisations can struggle to find suitably qualified local staff when operating overseas and so rely on benchmark data to ensure the rewards they offer encourage employees with transferable skills to accept international assignments." Zurich ranks as the world’s top city, with a rating of 108.1, in Mercer’s overall ranking for quality of living. Coming in second was Geneva, closely followed by Vancouver and Vienna in equal third. European and Australian cities continue to dominate the highest rankings for overall quality of living. Auckland and Düsseldorf share fifth place, followed by Frankfurt and Munich in seventh and eighth place. Bern and Sydney came in at equal ninth. Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin also made it into the top 20 with ranks of 13, 14 and 16 respectively. Paris came in at 33 and Madrid at 42. Prague received the highest rank for Eastern Europe, coming in at 75. Russian cities have also performed poorly with Moscow, St Petersburg, Novosobirsk and Kazan taking positions 201, 184, 182 and 174 respectively. The analysis is based on an evaluation of 39 quality of living criteria for each city including political, social, economic and environmental factors, personal safety and health, education, transport and other public services. Full city rankings for overall quality of living worldwide (2007) 1 Zurich,Switzerland 2 Geneva, Switzerland 3 Vancouver, Canada 3 Vienna, Austria 5 Auckland, New Zealand 5 Dusseldorf, Germany (Amsterdam ranked 13, Brussels 14, Berlin 16, Paris 33, Barcelona 41, Madrid 42.)//Expatica 2007