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EXECUTIVELIFESTYLE]PHOTO: SPH LIBRARYTOP 5 CITIES INASIA PACIFICSingapore ranks top for city infrastructure with aworld-class airport and enviable public transportnetwork system.ASIAN TIGERSSingapore (1st)Tsukuba, Japan (4th)Yokohama, Japan (5th)Singapore is a rising star and thecity has gained importance asa fi nancial centre and boastsan airport with excellent facilitiesand connections.According to last year’s Mercerreport on Quality of Living survey,Singapore ranks fi rst with the highestscore worldwide (109.1). New York isthe base city with an index score of 100.Singapore offers a wide rangeof international and private schoolsto cater to its expatriate community,as well as an effi cient and extensivepublic transport network.Other high rankers in the regioninclude Hong Kong (8), Sydney (11)and Tokyo (12). Dhaka ranks lowestin the region at 197.Beijing has also moved threeplaces in the ranking, up from116 in 2008 to 113, mainly due toimprovements in public transportfacilities from the Olympic Games.New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kongand South Korea have also beenexperiencing gradual improvementsin quality of living.Asia is a diverse region. Recentpolitical unrest and terrorist attacks insome cities in the region have madea negative impact on the quality ofliving there. Dropping in the rankings,mainly due to a decline in stabilityand security are Bangkok (from 109in 2008 to 120) and Mumbai (from142 to 148).While the quality of living in manyregions was affected by politicalturmoil, health and climatic concernsand the global fi nancial crisis in2008, 2009’s ranking also ranks thecountries on additional factors.The survey identifi ed the citieswith the best infrastructure based onelectricity supply, water availability,telephone and mail services, publictransport provision, traffi c congestionand the range of international fl ightsfrom local airports. +Hong Kong (tied 8th)Tokyo, Japan (12th)Mercer’s Quality of Livingranking covers 215 cities and isconducted to help governmentsand major companies placeemployees on internationalassignments. The quality of livingrankings are based on a pointscoringindex, which sees Viennascore 108.6, and Baghdad 14.4.Cities are ranked against NewYork as the base city with anindex score of 100.SOURCE: MERCER’S 2009 QUALITY OF LIVING SURVEYBIZQ APR/MAY/JUN 2010 ] 39