DURBAN - According to the Mercer Quality of Life ranking, Durban is the South African city that has the highest quality of living.
Durban ranked at a higher position in terms of quality of living compared to the other major South African cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town. However, Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius was the highest ranked African city for quality of living.
In terms of quality of living, Port Louis ranked at 83 which was followed by Durban at 89 and then Cape Town and Johannesburg at 94 and 95 respectively.
The complete index is based on 10 categories including economic development, recreation, natural environment, housing, consumer goods, medical and health considerations, schools and education, political and social environment, socio-cultural environment and public services and transport.
According to the Durban Mayor Zandile Gumede, the report shows that the city of Durban is on the right path and it proves that the eThekwini Municipality is growing its economy and meeting the needs of its people. She added that Durban is becoming a city its citizens can be proud of.
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Some of the reasons that Durban may have been ranked the South African city with the highest quality of living is the increased economic growth within the province.
According to the Mayor, the city of Durban has created more than 3.2 million work opportunities.
The eThekwini Municipality Annual Report also showed that the municipality also managed to do outstandingly well in in terms of service delivery and economic development. This is also a contributing factor to why Durban has the highest quality of living.
Durban also has three road projects that are in the process of being completed including the Bridge City-Umhlanga road project and Bridge City to Pinetown road project.
The coastal city also has various catalytic projects that are creating jobs including the Clairwood Logistics Park and the Dube Tradeport.
On average, the overall value increase from GV 2012 to GV 2017 was about 27% which shows the increase in property in Durban over the past 5 years.
In terms of tourism, the city draws in the highest beds per night per Metro for domestic tourists and it continues to be the leading conference venue in Africa attracting many events especially at ICC.
Durban was also named the city that has the most amount of success in improving its image for 2017 according to the 2017 City Brand Index.
The index showed that South African cities are continuing to maintain or better their rankings as global citizens have shown increasing appreciation for South African cities.