“Good air quality, solid infrastructure, decent medical facilities, low crime and health risks have contributed to Singapore maintaining its position at the top of the global ranking for quality of living for Asian assignees,” said Lee Quane, ECA International’s regional director in Asia.
Singapore also ranked first in the global rankings.
Four cities in Japan—Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo and Yokohama—took the second to fifth place in the 2015 Asian rankings, maintaining their position from last year’s ratings.
Rounding out the top 10 most liveable cities in Asia are Hong Kong, Taipei, Busan, Macau, and Seoul.
Metro Manila jumped only one spot to 37 in this year’s rankings from the 38th spot in 2014. Globally, Metro Manila took the 178th spot.
In mainland China, Shanghai is the most liveable city, ranking 13th in Asia.
The Pakistani cities of Islamabad and Karachi have the region’s worst scores, ranking 53rd and 54th, respectively.
The study said personal security and social-political tensions make the two cities the hardest Asian locations for expatriates to live in.
ECA's Location Ratings system, which is updated annually, assesses the overall quality of living in more than 450 locations in the world.
Among the factors assessed include climate; availability of health services; housing and utilities; isolation; access to a social network and leisure facilities; infrastructure; personal safety; political tensions and air quality.
The ratings aim to help businesses determine the appropriate allowances to compensate employees who are assigned overseas.
ECA is a global leader in providing information and technology to inform, guide and support managers handling compensation and benefits for international workers.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
