Asia-Pacific countries have surpassed most nations in the West as the nicest places to live, a new survey by Mercer shows.

In terms of overall quality of living, Australian and New Zealand cities ranked among the highest in the world, with Auckland figuring at number three and Sydney at number ten. Vienna is at number one. Other Asia-Pacific cities within the top 20 are Wellington at 13, Melbourne at 17 and Perth, clinging nicely at 21. 

In the remainder of Asia, Singapore remained the highest-ranking city at 25, followed by Tokyo at 44, Kobe at 48, Yokohama at 49 and Osaka at 57. Hong Kong was at 70, Seoul at 75, Kuala Lumpur at 80, Taipei at 85 and Shanghai at 95. What is particularly impressive is that Singapore ranked the highest in the world in terms of city infrastructure, with Hong Kong trailing at six, Sydney at eight and Perth at 25. 

The lowest ranking city for infrastructure is Dhaka in Bangladesh at 205, while the lowest ranking overall were Dhaka at 203, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan at 204 and Dushanbe, Tajikistan at 207. 

The study attributes the gap among Asia-Pacific cities to the massive infrastructure and public services investments in key cities of late. "Competition among municipalities has been continuously increasing in order to attract multinationals, foreigners, expatriates and tourists," said Phil Stanley, Asia-Pacific global mobility leader for Mercer. 

Mercer measured local living conditions in more than 460 cities worldwide based on 39 factors, grouped in 10 categories, which include political and social environment, economic environment and socio-cultural environment, among others. The data was collected between September and November 2012.