Moscow moves up in life-quality rating

Russia Today, 11 may 2011

An annual study of the world's best cities to live in has ranked Moscow higher than Zurich.

The rating is composed by an international residential and commercial property company, Knight Frank, which has been doing city rankings since 2008.

The rankings are based on quality of life, cultural and political importance, and economic clout.

The objective of the studies is to highlight cities’ investment opportunities and influence on global business leaders and political elites.

In this year’s rating, the Russian capital ranked 21st. Knight Frank employees noted that in 2010 the country witnessed improvement in four key measurement areas: economic activity, political power, life quality and knowledge/influence.

Moscow ranked 16th in terms of economic output, income per person, financial activities, market share and the number of international business headquarters.

In terms of political power, the Russian capital is 31st, boasting only a small number of national NGOs, embassies, think tanks, and headquarters of national political organizations.

Moscow scored 19th in the third category, which assesses personal security, political freedom, censorship, crime, public transport, arts and culture and climate.

As far as education is concerned, Moscow came in 21st.

“Moscow's growing influence is obvious,” Elena Yurgeneva, director of the residential sales department at Knight Frank Russia, told RT. “One example is real estate. There is a balance of price and quality. No one will pay more for real estate that does not meet certain standards. Yet the price per square-meter of elite real estate in Moscow is higher than in most European capitals. That puts it on the same level as Paris – about $16,000.”

“Only London is ahead of Moscow. There the average price for elite real estate is $35,000 per square meter,” Yurgeneva added.

Moscow is expected to rise even higher up the chart in the next few years.