City of Sails’ Top Spot

Auckland is number five in the 2008 Mercer’s WorldWide Quality of Living Survey, making it the most liveable city in the Asia Pacific region. Tourism Auckland’s chief executive Graeme Osborne said he is not surprised the city retained its place in the top five and attributed Auckland’s success to its “young, progressive and spiritual attitude”. “I think we’re blessed for natural assets … we have the sophistication of a global city with natural and heritage assets at arm’s reach,” Osborne said. The rankings are based on 39 key quality-of-living determinants such as political stability, schooling, socio-cultural environment, recreation, housing and natural environment. Zurich was placed first, followed by Vienna, Geneva and Vancouver.