Zurich proves powers of innovation

Zurich ranked fifth out of 34 as Swiss cities this year debuted in the consulting company PwC’s Cities of Opportunity index.

London scored the top spot, followed by Paris, Toronto and Singapore. Basel came in 13th position, Geneva 17th and Bern 20th.

The study looked at criteria including the economy, adaptability and quality of life, with the Swiss cities performing particularly well in the latter category. For transport systems and infrastructure, Zurich and Basel featured in the top five.  

The results coincided with this week’s publication of Mercer’s Quality of Living City Ranking, in which Zurich came second out of 430 cities.

In PwC's index, Zurich also performed well in the categories health and safety (3rd), cost (4th), sustainability and environment (5th), and was just one off the top spot in intellectual capital and innovation.

“Zurich performed better in this category than cities including San Francisco and New York. The result is particularly pleasing, because it concerns factors that will affect the future, such as innovation, higher education and entrepreneurship,” explained Moritz Oberli, study author and partner at PwC Switzerland, in a Tages-Anzeiger article.