The Swiss cities of Zurich and Geneva topped an urban quality of life survey published by a UK research company. Iraq's capital, Baghdad, ranked last in the annual survey of 215 world cities, by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.
Vancouver, Canada and Vienna, Austria tied(不分胜负) in third place on the list, which is intended as a guide for expatriates.
The survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting evaluates criteria including health, education, transport, safety and economic and environmental factors.
Countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand dominated the top of the list, with Auckland, Bern, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Sydney all in the top 10.
The survey was conducted mainly in November 2003 and uses New York as a starting point with a base score of 100.
New York finished 38th, up from 44th last year, 6.5 points behind Zurich and Geneva.
The survey found that the Bush administration's "war on terror" has damaged the quality of life in several US cities - as well as in poorer cities in the Middle East and Africa.
Several US cities, which now have to deal with increased security checks, have fallen down the rankings.
Honolulu and San Francisco, both at 24, are in the highest position, while Atlanta is the lowest-placed of the US cities examined - down three places to 66.
Khartoum in Sudan, Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, both in the Congo, and Bangui in the Central African Republic join Baghdad at the bottom of the list.
Last year Brazzaville was bottom, in 215th place, with Baghdad at 213. But the Iraqi capital has lost 16 points - far more than any other city - since the US-led invasion and overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
"The threat of terrorism in the Middle East and the political and economic turmoil in African countries has increased the disparity between cities at the top and bottom of the rankings," said Mercer senior researcher Parakatil.
Top 10 cities for overall quality of life, 2004
1. Zurich, Switzerland
1. Geneva, Switzerland
3. Vancouver, Canada
3. Vienna, Austria
5. Auckland, New Zealand
5. Bern, Switzerland
5. Copenhagen, Denmark
5. Frankfurt, Germany
5. Sydney, Australia
10. Amsterdam, the Netherlands
10. Munich, Germany

英国一家调研公司公布的调查报告显示：瑞士的苏黎世和日内瓦是生活质量最高的城市。
英国美世咨询有限公司对全世界215个城市进行了年度调查，伊拉克首都巴格达排在倒数第一。
加拿大温哥华和奥地利维也纳并列第三，这一排名主要是为那些打算移居国外的人提供指南。
英国美世咨询有限公司此次调查的评判标准包括卫生、教育、交通、安全、经济和环境等诸多因素。
欧洲国家、澳大利亚和新西兰占据了排行榜的前几位，奥克兰、伯尔尼、哥本哈根、法兰克福和悉尼都在前十之列。
此次调查主要是在2003年11月份进行的，以纽约为起点，其基础分为100。
最终，纽约排在第38位，比去年的44位略微上升了一点，比苏黎世和日内瓦少了6.5分。
调查发现，布什政府“反恐战争”不仅破坏了许多美国城市的生活质量，同时也破坏了中东和非洲一些比较穷的城市的生活质量。
许多美国城市现在不得不应付增加的安全检查，这导致它们在排行榜上的名次下降。
檀香山和旧金山是所有被调查的美国城市中排名最高的，排在第24位，而亚特兰大排名最低，排在第66位，比去年下降了3位。
苏丹的喀土穆、刚果的布拉扎维和黒角、中非共和国的班吉和巴格达一起排在最后。
去年，布拉扎维是最后一名，第215位，巴格达列第213位。由于以美国为首的入侵以及萨达姆政权的倒台，伊拉克首都今年降低了16分，比其他任何一个城市的降低幅度都大。
英国美世咨询有限公司高级调查员帕拉卡特尔说：“中东地区的恐怖主义威胁和非洲国家的政治经济混乱加剧了排在榜首和榜尾城市之间的差距。”
2004年城市生活质量整体排名前十的城市是：
1．苏黎世，瑞士
1．日内瓦，瑞士
3．温哥华，加拿大
3．维也纳，奥地利
5．奥克兰，新西兰
5．伯尔尼，瑞士
5．哥本哈根，丹麦
5．法兰克福，德国
5．悉尼，澳大利亚
10．阿姆斯特丹，荷兰
10．慕尼黑，德国