Tel Aviv ranked 104th worldwide in quality of living

Tel Aviv was only Israeli city on the Mercer firm's list.

By NIV ELIS
Updated: FEBRUARY 24, 2016 11:04
Vienna, Austria (photo credit: REUTERS)
Vienna, Austria
(photo credit: REUTERS)
If consultancy Mercer is to be believed, Tel Aviv is the 104th best city in terms of quality of life, placing near an unusual mix of cities, such as Brazil’s Brasilia (106), Argentina’s Buenos Aires (93), Croatia’s Zagreb (98) and Tunisia’s Tunis (113). Jerusalem is absent from the list altogether.
The annual listing, which pegged Vienna, Zurich, and Auckland as the top three quality of life cities, relies on 39 factors in 10 categories, including the political and social environment, socio-cultural environment, education, recreation, consumer goods, and housing, among others. It also factors in personal safety, as the list relates to crime, law enforcement and relationships with other countries.
Ilya Bonic, senior partner and president of Mercer’s Talent business, said, “Heightened domestic and global security threats, population displacement resulting from violence and social unrest in key business centers around the world are all elements adding to the complex challenge facing multinational companies when analyzing the safety and health of their expatriate workforces.”
The list, he added, is intended for use by multi-national companies to address cost implications and hardship issues for compensating expatriates.
European cities dominated the top of the list, with North American cities coming only from Canada – until US city San Francisco appeared as number 28 on the list.
In the Middle East, Dubai ranked highest on the list at 75, followed by Abu Dhabi at 81. Many South African cities featured on the list, all ahead of Tel Aviv, including Durban (85), Cape Town (92) and Johannesburg (95).
Conflict-ridden cities such as Damascus (224) were near the bottom, with Baghdad filling the lowest entry of 230.
Tel Aviv’s low ranking seems to contradict other such rankings. In 2011, for example, US Foreign Services officers picked Tel Aviv as the top assignment for serving, noting its high quality of life.
Jerusalem’s absence from the list also seems unusual, given its greater size and political importance relative to Tel Aviv.
Top 10 cities:
1) Vienna, Austria
2) Zurich, Switzerland
3) Auckland, New Zealand
4) Munich, Germany
5) Vancouver, Canada
6) Dusseldorf, Germany
7) Frankfurt, Germany
8) Geneva, Switzerland
9) Copenhagen, Denmark
10) Sydney, Australia
Bottom 10 cities: 
221) Conakry, Guinea
222) Kinshasa, DR Congo
223) Brazzaville, Congo
224) Damascus, Syria
225) N'Djamena, Chad
226) Khartoum, Sudan
227) Port-au-Prince, Haiti
228) Sana'a Yemen
229) Bangui, Central African Republic
230) Baghdad, Iraq