Good life here and now

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Auckland has won double honours in top-10 rankings of the best and cleanest places to live on the planet.

For all its transport and drainage woes, not to mention a reputation as the world's weediest metropolis, Auckland came sixth for overall quality of life in a survey of 215 cities.

Not only is this one place higher than in the previous annual survey by international consultancy William M. Mercer, but the Queen City ranks ninth in the firm's new environmental index.

Wellington edged out Auckland in the environmental stakes to come seventh-equal with Victoria in the Seychelles.

Mercer's New Zealand consultancy manager, John Ellen, suggested yesterday that Auckland's traffic problems and Wellington's stronger winds might have been at least partly responsible.

But Auckland was well ahead of Wellington in overall quality-of-life stakes, although the capital came in at a respectable 22, one place up from last year.

Top of the environmental list was Calgary at the foot of the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where clear crisp air is enhanced by an integrated transport system including light rail, 400km of pathways and 200km of cycle routes.

Rubbish controls including recycling have kept domestic waste sent to landfills at about the same level as 10 years ago, while the population has grown more than 150,000 to 876,500.

Top city for its quality of life despite a staid image is Switzerland's largest centre, Zurich, with a population of 361,000 - followed by Vancouver and Vienna sharing second place.

Aucklanders stewing in rush-hour traffic should also spare a thought for the 750,000 residents of the world's worst-ranked city, Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, where the infant mortality rate is roughly 20 times higher than in New Zealand.

A United States State Department profile of the Congo put the rate at 106 for every 1000 babies born, with those who survive unlikely to live much past 46.

Ravaged by civil wars and refugees spilling across its eastern border from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), its natural resources have been plundered without the provision in return of basic infrastructure.

Raw sewage is dumped in rivers, Aids is rampant, tap water makes people ill and air pollution from vehicle exhausts adds to the misery in an enervating equatorial climate.

Sydney was ranked as the fourth best city in which to live, but failed to make it into the top 50 on the environmental scorecard.

The overall quality ratings were based on 39 measures, including political stability, access to health and education services, hygiene, housing, the availability of consumer goods, safety and recreation.

Mr Ellen said the survey was conducted to guide employers on the sort of packages they needed to offer to attract top staff in a global market.

Staff throughout the world, including in consultancy's Auckland and Wellington offices, filled out the survey.

Being able to offer a high quality of life in non-monetary terms could be used to compensate recruits for lower salaries than are offered in cities such as New York, which took 128th place on the environmental index.

Auckland Mayor John Banks was initially sceptical about Auckland's environmental performance, suggesting that the authors of the survey "obviously don't live in the city", but he quickly warmed to its implications as a drawcard for overseas recruits and wealth creation.

Quality of life survey