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According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), about half of the world's population, or three billion people, live in urban centers, and this number will only increase as an estimated 160,000 people relocate to cities every day. Each year, Mercer Human Resources Consulting conducts an international Quality of Living Survey. Last year, 215 cities were ranked according to 39 criteria, including political, social, economic, and environmental factors, as well as personal safety and health, education, transportation, and other public services. New York is used as the base city and given a score of 100, while all other cities are ranked against it. According to Mercer's senior researcher Slagin Parakatil, "The top cities … have a combination of excellent hospital services and medical supplies and low levels of air pollution and infectious disease." Here are some of the highlights from the 2007 Survey: • The highest scores went
to cities in Western Europe, North America, Australiasia,
and Japan.
• The top three cities
remained unchanged from last year: Zurich,
Switzerland, ranked number one with a score
of 108.1, while Geneva,
Switzerland, came a close second with a score
of 108.0, and Vancouver,
Canada, was third with a score of 107.7.
• The top five cities in
the Americas were all Canadian cities. They include
Vancouver
(#3); Toronto
(#15); Ottawa
(tied for 18th); Montreal
(#22); and Calgary
(#24).
• Honolulu
and San
Francisco were the top cities in the United
States, tied for 27th place overall. Other American
cities that made the top 50 list include: Boston
(#36), Washington,
DC (#42), Chicago
(#44), Portland,
Oregon (#46), New
York (#47), and Seattle
(#49).
• Calgary
also ranked number one in health and sanitation,
with a score of 131.7. Other North American cities
that received top marks in this category include:
Honolulu
(#2); Ottawa
(#4); and Minneapolis
(#5). Boston,
Lexington,
Kentucky; Montreal;
Pittsburgh;
and Vancouver
all tied for 10th place in health and sanitation.
Baku in Azerbaijan was the lowest ranked city in
health and sanitation, with a score of 27.6. For some numbers from the 2006 survey, see Trivia: Healthy Cities 2006. Discuss This ArticleHave something you'd like to say? Tell us what you think! Read and post comments for this article. Like this article? Read more! Browse our archive of 1,022 articles. Also, see our master index of all MedHunters articles! Find a JobChoose your career: MedHunters is the world's biggest healthcare job board. Our job directory has 16,701 jobs with 2,450 hospitals and other direct employers. We want you to find your next job on MedHunters. Need Help? Call us at 1-888-884-8242, email us at info@medhunters.com or sign up now. Have an article or story for MedHunters? Email us today at submissions@medhunters.com. |
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