Singapore topped consulting firm Mercer's list of cities in Asia offering the highest quality of life, and its infrastructure was deemed the best in the world.
Vienna, Austria's grand capital on the Danube river, was the world's best place to live for the eighth year in a row, while Baghdad was again considered the worst. Globally, Singapore was ranked No 25.
Mercer's 2017 Quality of Living survey of 231 cities helps companies and organisations determine compensation and hardship allowances for international staff. It uses dozens of criteria such as political stability, health care, education, crime, recreation and transport.
Notably, Singapore was No 1 in the world for city infrastructure, followed by Frankfurt and Munich both in second place. City infrastructure, ranked separately this year, plays an important role when multinationals decide where to establish locations abroad and send expatriate workers, said Mercer.
Easy access to transportation, reliable electricity, and drinkable water are all important considerations when determining hardship allowances based on differences between a given assignee's home and host locations.
