Dubai retains top spot as city with region’s best quality of living

The UAE’s Dubai retained its top spot as the city with the region’s best quality of living, followed by Abu Dhabi, according to the Mercer 2012 Quality of Living Survey.

Dubai (73) and Abu Dhabi (78) are the region’s top cities with the best quality of living. Port Louis in Mauritius (82), Cape Town (89) and Johannesburg (94) follow, and along with Victoria in the Seychelles (96), are the region’s only other cities in the top 100.

The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region is one of contrasts, with Baghdad (221) bringing up the rear of the rankings both regionally and globally.

This region has 15 cities in the bottom 20, including Lagos, Nigeria (202); Bamako, Mali (209); Khartoum, Sudan (217); and N’Djamena, Chad (218) and Baghdad (221).

Globally, Vienna tops the rankings, followed by Zurich and Auckland in second and third place, respectively, and Munich is in fourth place, followed by Vancouver, which ranked fifth. Düsseldorf dropped one spot to rank sixth followed by Frankfurt in seventh, Geneva in eighth, Copenhagen in ninth, and Bern and Sydney tied for tenth place.

In the city infrastructure index, most of the Mena region’s cities rank below 100. The exceptions are Dubai (34), which ranks the highest in the region for city infrastructure, Abu Dhabi (72), Port Louis (91), Muscat (94), Cairo (95) and Cape Town (97). Port Louis, Cairo and Cape Town are the only African cities in the top 100.

Elsewhere in the region, Doha, Qatar is at 102, Tunis, Tunisia, ranks 103 and Manama, Bahrain is at 110. In terms of city infrastructure, Baghdad, Iraq (220) is the lowest-ranking city regionally, along with Sana’a, Yemen (219); Brazzaville, Congo (218); Kigali, Rwanda (217); and Abuja, Nigeria (215).

“The ongoing turmoil in many countries across North Africa and the Middle East has led to serious security issues for locals and expatriates,” said Slagin Parakatil, Senior Researcher at Mercer.

“Many countries continue to experience violence through political demonstrations that have sometimes developed into massive uprisings and led to serious instability within the region.

“Countries such as Syria and Mali have seen their quality of living levels drop substantially. Employers should continually monitor the situation in these countries, as circumstances can degrade rapidly.

Companies need to be able to proactively implement mitigation plans, such as emergency repatriation, or adjust expatriate compensation packages accordingly.”

In the US, Honolulu (28) and San Francisco (29) are the highest-ranking cities, followed by Boston (35). Chicago is ranked 42nd, while Washington, DC, is ranked 43rd. Detroit (71) is the lowest-ranking of the US cities that Mercer surveys.

Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan (217); N’Djamena, Chad (218); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (219); and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq (221) ranks last.

“In order for multinational companies to ensure their expatriates are compensated appropriately and an adequate hardship allowance is included in compensation packages, they must be aware of current events and local circumstances,” said Parakatil.

“Factors such as internal stability, law enforcement effectiveness, crime levels and medical facilities are important to consider when deciding on an international assignment, and the impact on daily life that could be encountered by the expatriate in overseas placements.”

Parakatil continued: “Infrastructure has a significant effect on the quality of living that expatriates experience. While often taken for granted when functioning to a high standard, a city’s infrastructure can generate severe hardship when it is deficient. Companies need to provide adequate allowances to compensate their international workers for these and other hardships.”

Mercer conducts this survey annually to help multinational companies and other organisations compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments. Mercer’s Quality of Living reports provide valuable information and hardship premium recommendations for many cities throughout the world. Mercer’s Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city.

This year’s ranking separately identifies the cities with the best infrastructure based on electricity supply, water availability, telephone and mail services, public transportation, traffic congestion and the range of international flights from local airports. Singapore is at the top of this index, followed by Frankfurt and Munich in second place. Copenhagen (4) and Dusseldorf (5) fill the next two slots, while Hong Kong and London share sixth place. Port-au-Prince
(221) ranks at the bottom of the list.

The highest-ranking US cities on the city infrastructure list are Atlanta (13), Dallas (15), Washington, DC (22) and Chicago (28).

Click here for an expert podcast on the Mena rankings


 

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.