Hyderabad retained its position as the top Indian city for the fourth year and is joined by Pune as the two cities ranked highest among the seven Indian cities surveyed for quality of living.

Mercer, a global consulting firm and a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, released its 2018 Quality of Living ranking, highlighting its findings in its survey conducted annually.

New Delhi was the lowest ranked city in India for the third consecutive year and continues to face challenges in traffic and air quality.

Other metros, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru also ranked lower on the Quality of Living Index than the relatively newer technology hubs of Pune and Hyderabad, both of them were ranked at 142. Both cities have been rising up in the rankings in recent past, with Pune jumping up three spots this year.

Vienna again topped the list that includes 450 cities globally. It is Vienna’s ninth consecutive at the top of the index, followed by Zurich, Auckland and Munich in joint third place. In fifth place, Vancouver completes the top five and is the highest ranking city in North America. Singapore (25) and Montevideo (77) are the highest ranking cities in Asia and Latin America, respectively.

"The results show that Indian cities are yet to make any marked leaps on the quality of living scale from 2017. A key driver has been the considerable investment in physical infrastructure, including airports, public transport and communication facilities – among the many factors used to evaluate city living standards,” according to Padma Ramanathan, India Practice Leader, Global Mobility.

In 2018, improvements in Chennai, demonstrate some growth as a result of better access to airport with metro facilities and enhanced international connections. While Hyderabad and Pune have jumped up rankings this year, they have done so relative to other cities, while showing negligible change on factors evaluated.

“Air pollution is among the biggest threats posed to daily life and quality of living in megacities.,” she added.

In addition to valuable data on relative quality of living, Mercer’s surveys provide hardship premium recommendations for over 450 cities throughout the world. This year’s ranking included 231 of these cities.

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