2 April 2007

AMSTERDAM – Amsterdam held 13th position for the second consecutive year in the international city ranking by Mercer. This ranking of 215 cities according to quality of life was published on Monday.

The consultancy bureau evaluated cities on the basis of 39 criteria, including political factors, the environment, safety and health. The Swiss city of Zurich topped the list once again with 108.1 points, followed by Geneva with 108.

For the fourth consecutive year Baghdad came in last with 14.5 points.

Vancouver and Vienna share third place with 107.7 points. More than half of the cities in the top 30 are in Western Europe.

The highest ranked US city is Honolulu at number 27. US cities in general are faced with increasing traffic congestion and air pollution. Singapore and Tokyo were the highest ranking Asian cities (at numbers 34 and 35, respectively).

Amsterdam scored particularly well in the area of recreation, said a spokesperson for Mercer. The city even scored one point higher than Zurich in terms of cinema offerings. Other positive points for Amsterdam are the low crime rate and the quality of public transport. Traffic congestion did hurt its score however.

Governments and multinationals can use the survey in placing workers for international assignments.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2007]

Subject: Dutch news