Each year the international consulting firm Mercer does a survey to evaluate the quality of living in 221 cities around the world. Once again in 2011, Vienna came out on top in the study, making the Austrian capital the world's most livable city for the third time in a row.
The survey compares the political, social and economic climate, medical care, education, and infrastructural conditions such as public transportation, power and water supply.
It also takes into consideration recreational offers such as restaurants, theaters, cinemas, sports facilities, the availability of all kinds of consumer goods from food to cars, as well as environmental conditions - from green space to air quality.
Two further successes:
The first global comparison of cities in terms of innovation, technology and sustainability listed Vienna as the number 1 of the so-called "Smart Cities" at the beginning of 2012 - ahead of Toronto, Paris and New York. The ranking was prepared by the American climate strategist Boyd Cohen.
In August 2011, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) recognized Vienna as the city with the highest quality of life in Europe and the second-highest in the world in a comparison between 140 metropolises around the globe. Vienna was only surpassed by Melbourne, Australia.
