2 How is the Quality of Life Index composed?
Let’s turn our eyes upon 2007 Quality of Life Index. How do people live in different countries?
To produce this annual Index are considered, for each of these countries, nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate. This involves a lot of number crunching from "official" sources, including government websites, the World Health Organization, and The Economist, to name but a few.
But that's not all. Once the official data is collected, also take into account what local correspondents from all over the world have to say about our findings. They are, after all, working and living in these countries themselves. They point out where the institutional stats are all wet.
T
he
results are distilled into a mammoth survey.
Picture 2. Categories of comparison in Quality
of Life Index
3 The best place in the world to live
The best place, according to the 2007 Quality of Life Index, is France.
Why? There are some reasons:
It’s a country open to the world.
France’s infrastructure is among the best in the world.
France is known for quality, reliability and productivity.
France has the best overall health care system in the world.
France is the European Union’s largest agricultural producer.
France has a solid economy.
No question, France has its downsides, but, in many ways that matter, this country is hard to beat. Paris is not cheap (a recent report by Mercer Consulting reports that this city is the 15th most expensive in the world), but, outside the capital, you'll find the cost of living lower and the choice of properties selling for less than $100,000 impressive. And not only about ruins and renovation projects, either.
The trickiest thing will be deciding which region of France has the qualities you seek. The wild, rocky shores of Celtic Brittany, steeped in old customs and traditions? Or sun-drenched Provence with its hill towns and lavender fields, fringed by a turquoise sea and the shady palm trees of the Côte d'Azur?
Then there's the Dordogne département in Aquitaine, a lush land of castles and quaint villages stuck still in the Middle Ages. If you're mad for markets, you'll be in paradise here. The Dordogne has dozens, and it's renowned for its gastronomic specialties, such as foie gras, truffles, and other wild mushrooms.
3.1 From here to there easy and quick
France's infrastructure is among the best in the world (it ranks fifth in this category with a score of 77 out of a possible 100). Unlike some countries, you're not in for a horrid experience if you travel second class on French trains. The SNCF isespecially proud of its TGV (high-speed) trains. These Trains de Grand Vitesse whisk you from the country's far-flung cities to the capital inmere hours. The journey from Paris to Aix-en-Provence, for example, takes six hours by car but less than three by TGV.
All sizable towns have bus networks with good coverage. Many cities also have underground train services, known as the Métro. Paris has one, of course, but so too do Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, and Rennes.