Vienna, Austria, which is home to 1.7 million people, topped the international human resources consulting firm Mercer Consulting Group's annual study, Quality of Living, being named the most livable city in the world for the sixth time. Mercer, which published the results of the study online, focused on 230 cities worldwide and examined the cities according to political stability, medical care, education, crime rates, security and public transportation in the 2015 Quality of Living report. Istanbul ranked as 122th place on the list. Vienna, which offers easy living conditions with a developed transportation system, also pointed out its qualities as a tourist destination with its rich café culture and palaces as well as culture and artistic life. Zurich in Switzerland, Munich, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany and Vancouver in Canada follow Vienna in the report. While the Quality of Living report features seven cities in Europe, cities from New Zealand, Australia and Canada can also be seen on the list. Due to religion-related domestic disturbances, Iraq's capital Bagdad is at the bottom of the report. Mercer's report also highlighted Cheonan, South Korea; Durban, South Africa; Taichung, Taiwan; Wroclaw, Poland; Manaus, Brazil; Hyderabad, India; Pune, Peru and Chongqing and Sian in China as "second-tier emerging cities." Mercer Consulting Group performs the study every year in order to help multinational companies determine compensation packages for employees on international assignments.
