What makes one city more liveable than another? Quality of life in terms of safety, personal freedom, public transport and access to resources play a big role.

Recently, Mercer, the world’s largest human resources consulting firm aimed at helping companies expand abroad conducted a study on quality of life in cities around the world. Quality of life was measured based on factors like: recreation, personal freedom and freedom of media, housing, economic environment, public services, natural environment, level of crime and corruption, access to medical care, etc.

The firm looks at cities in which their clients can thrive, attaining the perfect life and work balance. So it wasn’t a massive surprise when Vienna, with its low crime rate and excellent public services like public transport and medical care made it to number one on the list of world’s most liveable cities. The climate is moderate, citizens feel safe and can live a healthy lifestyle.

A close second was Zurich in Switzerland. A similar case, it is known for its efficiency, its safety and affluence.

And Luxembourg was named the safest city in the world, while cities like Madrid and Paris dropped in safety ranking due to the increased risk of terrorism in these areas.