Is there a study abroad semester in your future? An expatriate assignment to another country? A job that requires international travel? Or do you just like to daydream about life in another country? If any of these apply... what would be an ideal place to base?
Several media and research organizations regularly categorize the best places in the world to live. Each list has been developed based on specific critera. I've listed the top five places from each list and where the USA ranks; you can click through to get more information and the complete list from each study.
World's Most Liveable Cities 2011 The Economist magazine list is based on 30 factors spread across five areas: stability, health care, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. (The top US city was Honolulu at number 26.)
1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
Top Cities for Quality of Living Mercer Consulting, a global Human Resources consulting firm, ranks an annual group of over 200 cities based on "quality of living." The Mercer data is used by governments and companies to determine some aspects of expatriate compensation. (The top American city is Honolulu at number 31.)
1. Vienna, Austria
2. Zurich, Switzerland
3. Geneva, Switzerland
4. (tie) Vancouver, Canada; Auckland, New Zealand
This video by Mercer discusses the highlights of their survey:
Best Countries in the World In this 2010 study, Newsweek ranked countries based on five criteria (health, economic dynamism, education, political environment, and quality of life). The link is to an interesting interactive feature that lets you look at the whole list and the detail for each country. (The USA is number 11.)
1. Finland
2. Switzerland
3. Sweden
4. Australia
5. Luxembourg
The World's Happiest Countries There are a couple of studies that identify the "happiest" countries. This list is from a recent Gallup poll involving thousands of people in 155 countries based on their overall life satisfaction and daily experiences. (The USA is number 14.)
1. Denmark
2. Finland
3. Norway
4. (tie) Sweden and the Netherlands
What are your reactions to these four lists? Any surprises?
What factors would be important to you in choosing another country to live and work? If you had to choose a six month international working assignment (with your living expenses paid), where would you want to go and why?
16 comments:
I always find these kind of lists a waste of time. Whether a lot of people like or dislike a city does not effect your personal experience. Some people would love living in the countries listed here, some might want to kill themselves after a week. Plus, living abroad is supposed to be an adventure. Going in with any sort of expectation defeats the purpose.
David Mouron
I definitely disagree with David on this one. Would you study abroad in sub-Saharan Africa? Or would you expect an experience in Australia or Denmark to perhaps be a more pleasant and opt to go to either of those countries?
For me, I definitely do a lot of research before I go visit a place. I don't necessarily go in with a strict schedule, but when I visit a new place, I would like to know what I'm getting into. Even when I visited New York City and San Francisco, I took time to read up on local culture, just because I don't want to end up having a terrible time because of ignorance of a new place.
When I'm choosing to live somewhere life expectancy, happiness level, economic stability, crime rates, and the healthcare system will be just a few major things that I investigate before making the leap.
I agree to the above statements. These lists are a little silly since these do not give a great sense of what a culture would be like. A person needs to experience a culture by diving right in. Like Erin said, the list may help if it involved crime rates or healthcare systems but those shouldn't hinder you from going to another country.
I believe that these lists have an element of subjectivity to them, but also an element of truth. I am however, completely surprised by the fact that no U.S cities such as Houston, Miami or New York City are included in any of these lists as they are known to be cities in which people can experience culture, cuisine and to an extent, affordable living. I not surprised by the Canadian dominated list of the "World's most liveable cities" as they are known to be safe and attractive (especially Toronto and Vancouver).
I am extremely surprised by the absence of cities such as Austin, Miami, Los Angeles, etc from the "Top Cities for Quality of Living" list as those cities are easily comparable to the likes of Vancouver(although the latter does look stunning).
The best countries in the World is also very surprising, as not many Western countries are included in that list, although I am not that surprised by the fact that lesser developed nations are the happiest due to them not always "wanting more" like people in the United States, and England can sometimes be guilty of, although i am surprised by the omission of Canada from the list as the Canadians are known to be among the happiest of the major western nations.
I'll agree with Qahir on this one...these list are somewhat subjective, but also true. The cities at the top of this list don't really suprise me, as many of us have always heard that Scandanavian countries are the happiest countries in the world.
The major factor in choosing a place to live and work overseas for me would be handicap accessibility. Secondarily important factors would be a good healthcare system, a good education system, and low crime rates. A general happiness level of the population living there would be a factor of moderate importance.
This might change in the future, but for now, if I could go live and work anywhere with my living expenses paid, I would most definitely choose Alicante or Granada, Spain. I've been to both cities and love them! This would only give me more practice in perfecting my Spanish. That, and I would have the opportunity to reunite with my friends that live there. These would be ideal cities to choose to live in with the stipulation that my living expenses would be paid for somehow, as it is quite a bit more expensive to live in Western Europe than in the United States.
I agree with Qahir that there is a level of subjectivity and truth at the same time. I would definitely do my homework prior to departing on an expatriate assignment. I also think that individual attitude plays a major role towards happiness.
I was shocked to see Austria was on so many of these lists. I was shocked because I know how expensive it is to live there even if it is a good country. I wasn't at all surprised by the "happiest" countries list. I also feel that these lists could be a guide, however in the end choosing a country to live/work in would have to be a personal decision and one that would be made on every individuals different needs.
I think it's sad that America and American cities are not on these lists. I wonder how we can improve our own country to make people happier and increase the quality of living and cultural value of our major metropolitan areas like Chicago, New York, and others. I wonder if our country's cultural diversity (particularly in larger cities) has negatively influenced our ability to place in lists like these. For example, it could be the case that a major urban center like Chicago has so many unique cultures thriving within it that it's difficult to create a unified sense of culture to which everyone can subscribe.
I agree with Ricky that it's somewhat sad that non of the American cities are on these lists. However, I've been to 2/5 most livable cities, and I can understand how they are far more exceeded than any American city. Melbourne, for example, is one of the most amazing places I have ever been. It is a beautiful, artsy, community oriented city. The atmosphere is very laid back and super friendly. And not far from the city is the Great Ocean Road which is a long stretch of beautiful beach scenery. It also include one of the Great Wonders of the Twelve Apostles. With the scenery, the people, and the community atmosphere, it's hard to find a place in America comprable to this. With the world's happiest countries, I feel that Socialism plays a role in this. I met a girl from Denmark during my trip abroad. Her government not only paid for her education, but it also gave her a stipend each month to pay for expenses. It's incredible to see how different governments interact differently with their people. Again, it's sad to see that America isn't one of the best or happiest countries. However, I know that one reason we're not considered happy is because we're a very large nation with high diversity. You're not going to be able to please everyone.
After living in Europe and visiting a few of the places on these lists as well as visiting multiple places in Canada on these lists it isn't hard to see why those cities and countries made these lists so heavily. If I had to choose a place to live for work I would,at least at this point, desire somewhere with English or German as the native language just out of comfort. Dutch or any of the Scandinavian languages would also be languages I would love to learn and therefore a desirable place to spend time. If I had all of my living expenses paid for I would probably want to move to either Denmark, Switzerland, or Austria because all of these countries are incredibly expensive but have fantastic qualities of life.
I agree with Ricky. Lets get America on the lists. When I travel I never look into the areas. I like jumping right in and figuring out the rest as I go. The adventure is the trip. Having a itinerary defeats the purpose for me....
I'm sure the guys doing these reports have done their Homework. The list are meant to be guides, if they could guarantee you happiness they would be in "granting and guaranteeing happiness" business and not in the business of statistics and information. I personally would like to judge these locations by myself, but sure would use things like these reports to get a feel for where I would like to adventure to first.
Some of the factors that I would look for when choosing a country would be country stability, religious tolerance, friendliness of people, and entertainment. I really can't point out a country, but it seems like our Canadian neighbors are very welcoming.
John Castellanos
I love rankings like these, they give me so much insight on what I plan to/ want to experience. Not to my surprise, the US isn't one of the highest ranking places to live and so forth, but it is much higher than other places like Spain. Also, as I imagined, I figured Canada would have such rankings based off prior knowledge of their culture.
I was really happy to see Vancouver on the list. It is one of my favorite cities even though I have only been there one time. Its interesting to see that the top "Happy" countries are all Nordic countries. It's funny to me because I could never imagine being happy and cold.
If I was to choose a country to move to the main criteria would be the weather. I'm not opposed to trying out different cultures but I really enjoy Latino culture so this makes South America attractive to me. So if I got to choose an international work assignment I would choose Panama City, Panama. It is right in the middle of of Latin America which would make it easy to travel to many interesting places in the region such as Costa Rica or even the Galapagos Islands. The Latino culture mixed with some American influence in Panama would be something that I would like to experience.
I think while this is very interesting to see the results they came up with, I have to agree with everyone who commented on how this is a very subjective set of statistics. In general, I take any type of statistics with a grain of salt as people can skew statistics to say whatever they want in all honesty. While I don't disagree with these results on any major scale, I think where you live and why you like it is a very personal decision and is going to be different for everyone.
I also agree with what most people. I do not believe that any of the factors listed can really be measured. Each person would have their own reasons in finding one place more desirable than another. It is a matter of perspective and personal opinion.
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