Prague scored in the new quality of life rankings, skipping New York and London
Prague ranked 13th out of 113 cities in the world in terms of quality of life. The order of cities was determined by the consulting company D&L Partners on the basis of the new PICSA index. It takes into account various criteria, which include, in addition to gross national product, the availability of housing and medical care or access to education. It places special emphasis on social and economic justice.
Prague has succeeded mainly in the area of quality of life, health care and personal safety. “The quality of medical care is particularly high, the city has the highest overall density of doctors per capita in the world,” the report said.
Zurich topped the list, followed by Vienna. Both cities are traditionally at the forefront of similar surveys. Zurich recorded excellent results in all measured areas, especially in quality of life, work, housing, education, leisure, security and – the Swiss higher education system achieved an exceptionally high score.
Vienna is in second place, scoring especially in the field of healthcare. The Austrian capital, like Prague, has a high density of doctors per capita and, according to the survey, has one of the best health care systems in Europe, with almost no waiting times for citizens.
The ranking is dominated by European cities, which occupied 15 positions in the top twenty. They were joined by four North American cities (Ottawa, Washington, Seattle and Boston) and only one Asian, Taiwanese.
The ten richest cities in the world are not very well ranked. London ranked 33rd, New York 38th. According to the authors of the ranking, this result shows that the richest cities may not be considered the most successful in some respects.
Cairo tops the rankings
The index divides cities from developed and developing countries. In this second category of countries, St. Petersburg ranked 50th, followed by Bucharest 53rd and Moscow 59th.
Cairo came in last. The last few dozen places have been occupied by cities from Asia, Africa and South America, where, according to the authors, there is great poverty and inequality. Of the developed cities, the metropolis of Kuwait ranked the worst, ranking 77th overall.
D&L Partners assessed the quality of life in cities on the basis of three pillars. The first concerns income levels, including cities inequalities and opportunities for residents, for example in access to education. The second pillar deals with how different groups of the population can participate in the running of society. The third pillar measures the quality of infrastructure, housing affordability and sufficient job opportunities.
The top twenty cities according to the PICSA rankings
1. Zurich
2. Vienna
3. Copenhagen
4. Luxembourg
5. Helsinki
6. Taipei
7. Oslo
8. Ottawa
9. Kiel
10. Geneva
11. Washington
12. Munich
13. Prague
14. Seattle
15. Stockholm
16. Boston
17. Amsterdam
18. Berlin
19. Eindhoven
20. Bilbao