Mercer Quality of Living Survey, Worldwide Rankings, 2011. Selected cities to put Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpor’s rankings in context (in SE Asia and the world).

Rank City, Country
1 Vienna, Austria
2 Zurich, Switzerland
3 Auckland, New Zealand
4 Munich, Germany
5 Vancouver, Canada
11 Sydney, Australia
18 Melbourne, Australia
25 Singapore, Singapore
30 Paris, France
30 San Francisco, California, USA
43 Washington, DC, USA
46 Tokyo, Japan
47 New York City, NY, USA
70 Hong Kong, China
76 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
80 Seoul, South Korea
83 Athens, Greece
85 Taipei, Taiwan
88 Cape Town, South Africa
95 Shanghai, China
97 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
101 Brasilia, Brazil
101 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
109 Beijing, China
121 Bangkok, Thailand
121 Mexico City, Mexico
128 Manila, Philippines
135 Cairo, Egypt
140 Jakarta, Indonesia
141 Bangalore, India
143 New Delhi, India
147 Hanoi, Vietnam
186 Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Phnom Penh Travel information
196 Yangon, Myanmar

Mercer evaluates local living conditions in all the 420 cities it surveys worldwide. Living conditions are analysed according to 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories:
1) Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc)
2) Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services, etc)
3) Socio-cultural environment (censorship, limitations on personal freedom, etc)
4) Health and sanitation (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc)
5) Schools and education (standard and availability of international schools, etc)
6) Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transport, traffic congestion, etc)
7) Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc)
8) Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc)
9) Housing (housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services, etc)
10) Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters)

Personal Safety Ranking, 2011

1 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
2 Bern, Switzerland
2 Helsinki, Finland
2 Zurich, Switzerland
5 Vienna, Austria
8 Singapore, Singapore
9 Auckland, New Zealand
31 Tokyo, Japan
36 Hong Kong, China
53 Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
53 San Francisco, California, USA
60 Paris, France
63 Barcelona, Spain
68 London, United Kingdom
68 New York City, NY, USA
74 Taipei, Taiwan
75 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
75 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
84 Washington, DC, USA
94 Beijing, China
106 Busan, South Korea
108 Chennai, India
110 Hanoi, Vietnam
114 Seoul, South Korea
118 Athens, Greece
153 Mexico City, Mexico
158 Cape Town, South Africa
160 Bangkok, Thailand
172 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
173 Manila, Philippines
173 St. Petersburg, Russia
181 Jakarta, Indonesia
190 Yangon, Myanmar
193 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
208 Lagos, Nigeria
221 Baghdad Iraq

*Mercer’s Personal Safety Ranking 2011 is based on measures of internal stability, crime levels, law enforcement effectiveness and host country international relations.

Related: Taxi Between Johor Bahru and Singapore – Singapore Living blog – Make Malaysia My 2nd Home (MM2H) Statistics