The 26 most crime-free, financially equal, and healthy cities in the world

Antwerp, Belgium

Global design and consultancy firm Arcadis has released its annual report on the most sustainable cities in the world.

The organisation ranked 100 cities in three sub-indexes — people, planet, and profit — as part of a report entitled "Sustainable Cities Index 2016: Putting people at the heart of city sustainability."

The "people" sub-index set out to find the city with the highest quality of life by rating eight metrics:

• Health (life expectancy and obesity)
• Education (literacy and universities)
• Income inequality
• Work-life balance
• Crime
• Green space within cities
• Housing and living costs
• Dependency ratio

Well-established European cities dominated the list, mostly thanks to low levels of income inequality which is intrinsically linked to other metrics including crime, education, health and affordability.

However, no American cities appear in the ranking. According to Arcadis, US destinations are "generally weighed down by a high degree of income inequality, high crime, obesity, a lack of affordable housing, and long working hours."

Interestingly, the report found that no one city performed well in all three sub-indexes, instead scoring averagely across the board or excelling in specific pillars.

26. Leeds, England — Leeds was the only British city to make the list. The northern city scored well across the board. Despite high unemployment and poor transport links, the city's ranking was bolstered by its city parks and proximity to the ​Yorkshire Dales.

25. Sydney, Australia — Several Australian cities appeared in the ranking. Low crime rates combined with a world-class education system meant Sydney performed well in the report. Its position was lowered by high house prices and cost of living.

(iStock)

24. Copenhagen, Denmark — The Danish city ranked highly across all of Arcadis' sub-indexes, despite being very expensive.

23. Vancouver, Canada — A low level of crime and a healthy work-life balance for its inhabitants means Vancouver boasts one of the best qualities of life in the world.

22. Melbourne, Australia — The cost of living in Australia is notoriously high and that didn't help with Melbourne's standing, but it redeemed itself with a myriad of city parks and great healthcare and educational access.

21. Brisbane — Australia's third largest city by population also boasts the second highest quality of life in the country.

20. Paris, France — Paris' work-life balance is one of the most enviable, but high property prices can be a problem.

Don't miss out on eating in a Paris café - just choose the right one (Getty)

19. Lyon, France — The entire city of Lyon is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and plenty of open spaces and communal areas provide people who live there an escape from city life.

18. Madrid, Spain — It's no surprise that Spain's largest city did so well in the ranking. The crime rate is fairly low according to Arcadis' report, and people who live there enjoy a healthy work-life balance.

17. Canberra, Australia — Of the four Australian cities on the list, the capital of Canberra ranked the highest.

16. Frankfurt, Germany — Frankfurt is fast becoming one of Europe's leading entrepreneurial​ and financial centres, but also provides its inhabitants with a quality of life to match.

15. Warsaw, Poland — It's not just Arcadis' report that hails Warsaw's high​ quality of life. The city also ranked 79th out of 221 cities in a world 'Quality of living' index by the Mercer advisory company.

Until recently, the region's tech startup scene was stagnant (Shutterstock / Mariola S)

14. Stockholm, Sweden — Stockholm has recently seen its star rise as the cultural, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The city ranked highly across the board but enjoyed a particularly impressive second place in the planet sub-index.

13. Barcelona, Spain — Barcelona boasts a relatively low cost of living, low property prices, and beaches and historic parks to boot.

12. Brussels, Belgium — Brussels sat in the bottom end of the profit sub-index, but its position was boosted considerably by its performance in people and planet.

11. Antwerp, Belgium — Antwerp is one of two cities in the small country of Belgium to make the list.

10. Montreal, Canada — It may not be Canada's capital city, but Montreal has seen itself become the country's heart of commerce, technology, and finance.

(Rex Features) (Rex)

9. Muscat, Oman — Muscat was the only Middle-Eastern city make the ranking. Shisha bars line the streets and Muscatians can relax on the beach or visit one of the city's many shopping malls. The cost of living can be expensive though, especially if you don't have your own car.

8. Munich, Germany — Munich is one of Germany's powerhouses and regularly performs well in quality of life indexes.

7. Amsterdam, Netherlands — The capital of the Netherlands boasted one of the best balances across all three pillars — people, planet, and profit. 179 companies are headquartered in Amsterdam, and the city continues to invest in measures to improve the quality of life.

6. Prague, Czech Republic — Prague was the highest ranking eastern European city on the list.

5. Berlin, Germany — Berlin is diverse and innovative and is the highest ranked of several German cities in the report. Berlin's waste management systems are environmentally friendly and low levels of air pollution provide ideal living conditions.


 

4. Vienna, Austria — Along with Stockholm, Vienna achieved one of the best balances between the three sub-indexes and therefore ranked highly overall as one of the world's most sustainable cities.

3. Hamburg, Germany — Hamburg boasts the highest quality of life of any German city and the second highest in Europe.

2. Rotterdam, Netherlands — Collaboration between the city's inhabitants and local government has contributed to its rise in the rankings. There are several initiatives​ in place to achieve a greener and more sustainable city which in turn boosts quality of life.

1. Seoul, South Korea — The South Korean capital has been named as the city with the world's highest quality of the life. Health and education rankings propelled Seoul to the top as 139 projects in 13 districts aim to transform the urban metropolis into a "safe, warm, dreaming, breathing city."

On the tiles: a historic neighbourhood in the capital, Seoul (Getty)

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