Baghdad and property investment - just say no

photo credit: James Gordon
Living in the UK, you would be forgiven for thinking that London is the centre of the universe. In fact, despite all the fuss that’s made about our capital city, it’s ranked as only number 38 in the best places in the world to live for quality of life.

Each year Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey ranks the world’s major cities according to a range of factors, including the economic situation, health issues, medical care, education, utilities and public services, recreational and cultural facilities, housing, the area’s climate and the likelihood of natural disasters.

Zurich 1 London 38

This year London was the highest ranked UK city followed by Glasgow and Birmingham at 56. But if you’re looking for the absolute best place in the whole world to live or to invest in property, you have to go to……Zurich. Exciting. Go on. Pack your bags.

If you’d rather opt for somewhere with more of a buzz to it, and you probably would, Sydney, Vancouver and Auckland also made it into the top ten and Honolulu was the highest US spot.

As far as personal safety aspects are concerned, Luxembourg came top followed by four other European cities. America suffered a bit in this one with not one city making it into the top 50 - but several standing at joint 53, including Winston-Salem (which is in North Carolina in case you where wondering, duh). Its neighbour Canada did much better, boasting Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver all ranked jointly at 22.

Baghdad let down by low quality housing

And the places to avoid? Unsurprisingly, Baghdad didn’t fare well, nor did Ndjamena, Khartoum, Brazzaville or Bangui, although I’m pretty sure they weren’t on the top of your list for property investment anyway.

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