(Image source: Rudi's Corner)
BY JING LIU
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
You're watching multisource global video news analysis from Newsy.
Vienna, Austria has a rich culture history, famous composers, its own waltz and, of course, der Wiener schnitzel.
Now, for the third successive year, Vienna also tops the list of best cities in the world.
The results come from “Mercer’s 2011 Quality of Living” survey, conducted by the global human resource consulting firm, Mercer.
Other cities in the top 5?
The Daily Mail reports, it’s Zurich, followed by Auckland, New Zealand, Munich, and Dusseldorf.
A Mercer researcher explains the criteria for the ranking.
“…the 2011 Quality of Living Ranking, which is evaluated based on 39 criteria, such as education, public services, transportation, environment.”
For the first time, this year’s survey also includes a list of safest cities, based on law enforcement, crime, and political stability.
Luxembourg was at the top, followed by Bern, Helsinki, Zurich and Vienna.
So what city is at the bottom of the list?
Baghdad.
“Baghdad's political turmoil, poor security enforcement and attacks on local people and foreigners made it the worst place to live in 2011, both in terms of life quality and safety.”
Despite being in the throes of an economic crisis, 25 European cities scored high on the list.
But Bloomberg notes, the situation in Europe is not as bright as it looks.
“European cities in general continue to have high standards of living, because they enjoy advanced and modern city infrastructures combined with high-class medical, recreational and leisure facilities… Economic turmoil, high levels of unemployment and lack of confidence in political institutions make their future positions hard to predict.”
The top U.S. city on the list is Honolulu, coming in at 29th. San Francisco ranks 30th, and Boston is at 36.
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