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Vienna remains very attractive for foreign workers: it once again tops the ranking of city with the best quality of life for expats by consultant Mercer. Brussels is only in 36th place. Four years ago, the Belgian capital was still in 28th place.
Vienna owes its top position partly to its rich history, beautiful architecture and vibrant cultural scene, it says. In second place in the ranking is Zurich, Switzerland, which scores high mainly due to its political stability, cleanliness and excellent infrastructure. Auckland in New Zealand is in third place, Copenhagen (Denmark) is in fourth place and Geneva (Switzerland) is in fifth place.
Brussels continues to decline and now only occupies 36th place in the ranking. According to Mercer, expats will find a high standard of medical and hospital services and there is also excellent availability and quality of consumer goods. The traffic jams are an important drawback, as is the lesser “internal stability” compared to the reference city of New York, it is said. Among Mercer’s most environmentally friendly cities, Brussels only ranks 44th.