Bucharest keeps low EU ranking in worldwide quality of living survey

Bucharest is ranked 107

th

in the world in Mercer’s 2018 Quality of Living survey, one of the lowest spots among EU cities. The Romanian capital occupied the same position in last year’s edition of the survey, which looked at 231 cities worldwide. In South East Europe, Bucharest came ahead of Sofia (ranked 116

th

in the world), Moscow (167

th

), Kiev (173

rd

), and Minsk (188

th

). Neighboring Budapest came out on the 76

th

spot, followed by Bratislava on the 80

th

, and Warsaw on 82

nd

. Prague was ranked 69

th

, while Ljubljana took the 75

th

spot worldwide. Vienna took the first spot in the ranking for the ninth year in a row. Austria’s capital remains the highest ranking city in Europe and globally, “providing residents and expatriates with high security, well-structured public transportation and a variety of cultural and recreation facilities.” Vienna is followed by Zurich (2

nd

), and Auckland and Munich in a joint 3

rd

place. Munich jumped to the 3

rd

position because of “a concerted effort to attract talent and businesses by continuously investing in high-tech infrastructure and promoting its cultural facilities.” Elsewhere in Europe, Stockholm dropped three places to the 23

rd

spot because of the terrorist attack there. Oslo (25

th

) and Lisbon (38

th

) increased their rankings by six and five places respectively. London remained further down the list, on the 41

st

spot, because of its “persistent issues with traffic congestion and air pollution.” Vancouver placed 5

th

worldwide, the highest ranking city in North America. Singapore (25