London living standards the best in the UK
LONDON’S standard of living is higher than in any other city in the UK, data out yesterday showed, and its infrastructure is among the best in the world.
London has the 20th best standard of living in Europe, and the 38th best in the world, Mercer judged in a report out yesterday. The report considered the political, social, economic, cultural and medical environment, as well as infrastructure, consumption, housing and education to come to its overall judgement.
This put London ahead of Birmingham and Glasgow in the UK, as well as world cities including Barcelona, Milan, Chicago, New York City, Tokyo, Rome and Hong Kong.
But Paris pipped London by nine places, and Austrian, German and Swiss cities crowded the top ranks of the table.
Overall, Vienna ruled the rankings, with Zurich in second, and Auckland, New Zealand, in third. Munich places fourth, with North America’s highest ranked city, Vancouver, in fifth.
The world’s most populous continent, Asia, gets a look-in only at 25th, with Singapore, while the top US city is in 28th – Honolulu – behind four Canadian cities. The highest-ranked South American city is Montevideo, at 77th, while Mauritius’s Port Louis is at 82nd, the highest-ranked in Africa.
The report also included a ranking of cities by infrastructure, where London ranked sixth in the world. This looked at the water supply, telecoms, congestion, international travel links and electricity.
On this sub-index, Singapore ranked first, ahead of Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen and Düsseldorf, with Hong Kong equalling London’s position. Sydney, Hamburg and Vancouver filled out the rest of the top ten.