Brussels ranked 28th among best cities in the world for quality of life

Brussels is the 28th best city in the world for quality of life, according to the global consultancy firm Mercer.

European cities occupy the majority of the top ten positions in the firm’s 2019 ranking, and include Vienna (1st), Zurich (2nd), Munich (3rd), Düsseldorf (6th), Frankfurt (7th), Copenhagen (8th), Geneva (9th) and Basel (10th).

 

 

Brussels’ current position represents a slight drop from 27th place last year, while Vienna came top for the tenth consecutive year.

US cities performed dismally in this year’s study, with all of them falling in the ranking except for New York (44th).

In Asia, Singapore (25th) ranked highest, followed by Tokyo (49th). Asian capitals Beijing (120th) and New Delhi (162nd) performed poorly largely due to concerns about the cities’ air quality.

The bottom of the ranking consisted largely of African and Middle-Eastern cities, with security concerns being the most commonly cited reason for their poor showing. Iraq’s notoriously dangerous capital Baghdad (231st) came in last place.