Top Family Friendly Cities Worldwide

Following the feature last week naming best value destinations, we now look at the most family friendly cities worldwide for those overseas property investors looking to make a new life for their family.

Real estate portal Homeday have released a study revealing the best cities for families worldwide, taking into account many important factors that make a city family friendly.

After quizzing parents on what makes a city great for raising a family, it was then decided to examine the following main criteria: City infrastructure, maternity laws, healthcare quality, happiness levels, activities for children, and expert perception.

Within these main categories, the following 15 factors were then examined: Housing, Education System, Safety, Affordability, Unemployment, Pollution, Transportation, Maternity/Paternity Law, Healthcare, Happiness, Kid Friendly Airports, Activities for Kids, Green Spaces.

These factors were chosen based on what parents confirmed were important when choosing a city to settle in, and to give an overview of the best cities for young families to both live and visit around the world.

30,000 parenting professionals and journalists were then polled to give their Expert Perception.

Every family friendly city which is featured in this final index has been hand-picked from thousands of possibilities analysed for these 15 factors and then awarded a score to determine a final ranking. So all should be considered an excellent place to raise a family.

Managing Director at Homeday, Steffen Wicker, commented: ‘Our real estate agents agree that the ultimate importance for most young families searching for real estate, is a location which is good for their family development.’

He continued: ‘For those families trying to decide where to put down roots, they need data-led research more than ever to help them make an informed decision. We hope that this study will make the all-important choice of where to raise a family that bit easier for young movers.’

The table below shows the final top twenty family friendly cities, with marks for housing, education system, maternity/paternity law, healthcare, happiness, activities for kids, and the total score.

1 Copenhagen Denmark 9.73 7.15 8.22 7.91 9.91 8.64 8.43
2 Oslo Norway 9.18 7.15 8.91 7.36 10.00 7.18 8.32
3 Zurich Switzerland 7.91 8.55 2.48 9.91 9.73 5.00 8.20
4 Stockholm Sweden 4.27 7.87 9.31 10.00 8.64 7.64 8.18
5 Hamburg Germany 9.36 8.72 7.13 9.09 7.00 7.55 8.14
6 Vancouver Canada 5.82 9.45 7.63 7.82 9.09 8.55 8.09
7 Basel Switzerland 8.82 7.84 2.48 9.91 9.73 4.05 8.04
8 Toronto Canada 4.09 9.45 7.63 7.82 9.09 8.18 8.01
9 Stuttgart Germany 7.27 8.55 7.13 9.09 7.00 7.45 7.98
10 Munich Germany 5.27 8.77 7.13 9.09 7.00 8.82 7.96
11 Lausanne Switzerland 7.64 8.55 2.48 9.91 9.73 2.73 7.90
12 Vienna Austria 6.64 5.41 9.21 8.36 8.09 9.36 7.76
13 Sydney Australia 4.87 6.89 1.30 7.09 8.64 9.33 7.75
14 Helsinki Finland 4.54 9.17 9.90 7.36 9.27 7.00 7.75
15 Melbourne Australia 5.54 8.24 1.30 7.09 8.64 8.88 7.75
16 Bern Switzerland 8.36 7.85 2.48 9.91 9.73 2.64 7.73
17 Montreal Canada 4.09 9.45 7.63 7.82 9.09 8.91 7.72
18 Brisbane Australia 8.09 6.59 1.30 7.09 8.64 6.64 7.68
19 Auckland New Zealand 4.45 8.01 3.77 8.18 8.82 7.55 7.66
20 Frankfurt Germany 9.18 8.65 7.13 9.09 7.00 9.09 7.61

Further Findings from the research were as follows:

• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ranks first for Housing, followed by Dubai, UAE and Muscat, Oman.
• Hong Kong, China ranks first for Education, followed by Japanese cities Tokyo and Osaka.
• Lausanne, Switzerland ranks first for Safety, followed by Abu Dhabi, UAE and fellow Swiss city Geneva.
• Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ranks first for Affordability (based on PPP), followed by Houston, USA and Hannover, Germany.
• Doha, Qatar ranks first for low Unemployment, followed by Bangkok, Thailand and Beijing, China.
• Reykjavik, Iceland ranks first for Pollution, followed by New Zealand cities Wellington and Auckland.
• Bern, Switzerland ranks first for Transportation, followed by fellow Swiss cities Lausanne and Basel.
• Sofia, Bulgaria ranks first for Maternity/Paternity Laws, followed jointly by Helsinki, Finland and Budapest, Hungary.
• On a national level, Sweden ranks first for Healthcare, while Switzerland and France rank second and third respectively.
• Oslo, Norway ranks first for Happiness, followed by Copenhagen, Denmark and Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Sydney, Australia ranks first for Kid Friendly Airports, followed by Singapore, Singapore and Oslo, Norway.
• Paris, France ranks first for Activities for Kids, followed by Berlin, Germany and Lyon, France.
• Stuttgart, Germany ranks first for Green Spaces, followed by Edinburgh, UK and Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
• The Parents’ Expert Perception poll puts Copenhagen, Denmark first place, followed by Lausanne, Switzerland and Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
• The Professionals’ Expert Perception poll puts Hamburg, Germany first place, followed jointly by Copenhagen, Denmark and Basel, Switzerland.