The world's most livable cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on a reputable annual survey of living conditions. Two examples are the Mercer Quality of Living Survey and The Economist's World's Most Livable Cities (using data from Mercer as well). It has been pointed out that this list does not necessarily represent or include factors such as entertainment and enjoyment, and as such some of the highest ranking cities are not necessarily the cities which spring to most people's minds as most desirable places to live.

Quality of Living Survey

thumb|left|[[Vienna, Austria]]
Mercer's Quality of Living Survey is released annually, comparing 215 cities based on 39 criteria.
New York is given a baseline score of 100 and other cities are rated in comparison.

Important criteria are safety, education, hygiene, recreation, political-economic stability and public transportation. The importance of the list lies primarily in that internationally operating companies use it to determine where they will open offices or plants and how much they pay the employees.

In the 2008 list, the top is dominated by cities from Europe, with several entries from Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Switzerland and Germany both have 3 cities in the top 10, which is especially striking for Switzerland, given the size of the country. The first entries from other countries are the USA at 28, Singapore at 32 and Japan at 35. Baghdad was at the bottom of the list. Of the 25 cities at the bottom, 18 are from Africa. Compared to lists from previous years, countries from South Asia (mainly India), East Asia (mainly China), the Middle East and Eastern Europe are clearly on the rise.

Mercer also has a 'Personal Safety' list, which is also dominated by EU and Swiss cities, with the top 5 being Luxembourg, Bern, Geneva, Helsinki and Zürich.

In the 2007 Mercer Quality of Living Survey the top five places included Zürich on 108.1 points, Geneva (108.0), Vancouver and Vienna on 107.7 points, Auckland on 107.3 and Düsseldorf on 107.2. Cities particularly from Switzerland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Canada rated well. All of Australia's major capitals were rated highly with Sydney at 9, Melbourne at 17, Perth at 21, Adelaide at 30 and Brisbane at 31. New Zealand's capital Wellington ranked at 12 and its largest city Auckland ranked at equal 4th. Canada did equally well with Vancouver (also at equal 4th), Toronto at 13, Ottawa at 18, Montreal at 22 and Calgary at 24. The top-rated USA cities were Honolulu at 27 and San Francisco at 29.

World's Most Livable Cities

The Economist Intelligence Unit's livability also uses data from the Mercer consulting group and shows cities in Canada, Australia, Austria, Finland and Switzerland as the ideal destinations thanks to a widespread availability of goods and services, low personal risk and an effective infrastructure.

The report placed Vancouver, Canada as the most livable city in the world, with Vienna taking second place followed by Melbourne, Australia. The survey said "In the current global political climate, it is no surprise that the most desirable destinations are those with a lower perceived threat of terrorism."

Two other Australian capital cities (Perth at equal 5th and Sydney at equal 8th) claimed positions in the top ten. Other Canadian cities also ranked highly in the survey. In addition to Vancouver, the Canadian cities Toronto and Calgary were all placed within the top 10, with Ottawa and Montreal ranked within the top 25. Vienna, Austria, Finnish capital Helsinki and Geneva and Zürich in Switzerland also ranked within the top ten.
Harare, Zimbabwe was rated the worst city in the world to call home. African and South Asian cities were generally the worst performing in the EIU's rankings. Pittsburgh is the highest rated US city.

Most Liveable Cities Index

thumb|left|[[Zurich, Switzerland]]

Since 2007 the lifestyle magazine Monocle publishes an annual list of liveable cities. The list in 2009 was named "The Most Liveable Cities Index" and presented 25 top locations for quality of life. The winning city in 2007 was Munich, Germany and the 2008 winner was Copenhagen, Denmark.

Important criteria in this non-scientific survey are safety/crime, international connectivity, climate/sunshine, quality of architecture, public transportation, tolerance, Environmental issues and access to nature, urban design, business conditions, pro active policy developments and medical care.

In the 2009 list the subsequent ranks included Honolulu (11.), Madrid (12.), Sydney (13.), Vancouver (14.), Barcelona (15.), Fukuoka (16.), Oslo (17.), Singapore (18.), Montreal (19.), Auckland (20.), Amsterdam (21.), Kyoto (22.), Hamburg (23.), Geneva (24.), Lisbon (25.).