Every year, the management consultancy Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) ranks the most attractive cities (“Cities of Opportunity”). The study examines 30 cities in terms of their economy, adaptability and quality of life. For the first time this year, the four Swiss cities of Zurich, Bern, Basel and Geneva were included in the ranking of a total of 34 cities, with the four cities performing very well in international comparison.
Zurich surpasses San Francisco and New York
Zurich proudly reaches fifth place, outperforming even major cities such as New York, San Francisco or Hong Kong. Zurich even ranks second behind London in terms of intellectual capital and innovativeness. The city received further positive gradings in the areas of health and safety, costs, sustainability and the environment, as well as transport systems and infrastructure.
All Swiss cities perform particularly well when it comes to quality of life. Taking infrastructure and transport as an indicator, both Basel and Zurich rank among the top five. The smallest city in the overall ranking list, the Swiss capital Bern, surprises in several respects: it ranks first in the world when it comes to health and safety. But Bern also ranks among the top five in terms of cost, sustainability and the environment. All Swiss cities also feature in the top ten when it comes to tax rates and purchasing power.
The positive results are in line with the recently published study by the consulting firm Mercer, which puts Zurich, Geneva and Basel among the top ten cities with the highest quality of life worldwide, and even has Zurich in second place (directly after Vienna).
Switzerland always comes out on top in a country comparison
Most international competitive comparisons, such as the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report, the IMD business school’s World Competitiveness Yearbook and INSEAD's Global Innovation Index, focus on countries. The latest WEF report named Switzerland the world's most competitive country for the ninth time in a row, IMD ranked it second place, and the country has been awarded the top spot in the Global Innovation Index for seven years running.
(Sources: pwc.ch, tagesanzeiger.ch)
