Vienna second most desirable mid-sized city, study says

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London and New York are the most desirable megacities in 2022, according to a study published Tuesday by consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The two metropolitan areas landed ahead of Shanghai, Beijing and Los Angeles in the category of large cities with more than 10 million inhabitants. In the category of medium-sized cities characterized by a high quality of life, Vienna came in second behind Copenhagen, followed by Amsterdam.

Among cities with more than three million inhabitants, Washington, Singapore, and San Francisco are ahead in popularity. Berlin landed in twelfth place. Medium-sized cities with a population of less than three million, which include Vienna, performed best overall, with 18 of the 28 cities scoring above the mean in various categories – economic opportunity, quality of life, social capital, interaction with authorities and speed of change.

Vienna did quite well in almost all 26 assessment indices. Still, because of extremely poor ratings in the subcategories for “cooperation with authorities” and “speed of change,” first place was out of reach. In both “Economic environment” and “Government services,” the German capital was in the worst of the five segments – even the last-placed Kazakh capital, Astana, was better in 28th place. In the “Speed of Change” category, which refers to residents’ perception of how a city adapts to changing needs, Vienna was again in the bottom segment in two areas.

The report, titled “Cities of Choice: Are People Happy Where They Live?” draws on surveys of more than 50,000 people in 81 cities worldwide and looks at what makes city dwellers move and, conversely, what makes them stay. According to the study, with the easing of Corona restrictions, more residents are moving between cities – 50 percent of city residents have already moved to a new city. In addition, 48 percent are considering a move in the future.

The survey results also show that the viral pandemic hurt 2022 city ratings. Only eight cities received better ratings from their residents than in 2021, and people worsened their ratings in all quality-of-life areas. “The Covid 19 pandemic has severely tested the resilience of most cities,” said Hans-Paul Bürkner, former BCG global chief executive and co-author of the study. “In fact, many cities have yet to fully overcome the pandemic.”

(S E R V I C E – BCG Study at http://go.apa.at/PQajwxyf)