Vienna improves friendship ranking: path to integration remains challenging
Vienna improves friendship ranking: path to integration remains challenging
Wien has improved by two places in the current “Expat Insider” survey and is now occupying 51st place below 53 international metropolises in terms of friendliness. In the previous year, the city was still listed as the most unfriendly worldwide. This time Berlin took the last place while Munich fell to 52nd place. The leaders in terms of friendliness are Mexico City, Malaga and Valencia.
Despite this positive development, there are still some challenges for Expats in Vienna. 24 percent of the respondents are dissatisfied with their social life - an improvement compared to 40 percent in the previous year. A Dutch expat said that the "initial culture shock and the unfriendliness of some locals can be discouraging".
quality of life and social integration
The quality of life in Vienna, however, remains at a high level. The city takes third place in this category, directly behind Valencia and Alicante. The decisive factor for this high rating are, among other things, the excellent public transport, the affordability of the transport and the numerous leisure opportunities. "There are a lot of inexpensive cultural offers," remarked an American expat.
Another aspect that was criticized in the survey is the limited possibility of paying cashlessly. While 56 percent of expats worldwide pay cashless people as easy, it is only 32 percent in Vienna. The language barrier is also a challenge; More than half of the respondents stated that they decided to move to Austria based on the language. Here Vienna is in the 36th place in the ranking.
A positive signal for Vienna is the ratings in the area of living space and housing costs. Expats evaluate the search for accommodation with the 16th place and the affordability with the 10th place. The relationship between income and quality of life is satisfactory for many expats; 82 percent stated that their household income is sufficient for a pleasant life, which Vienna secures the 10th place in the Personal Finance Index.
Despite the challenges mentioned, the survey shows that Vienna is one of the fastest rising cities in the ranking. In the “Working Abroad Index”, the city improved from 32th to 18th place. This survey is carried out annually by “Internations” and includes the opinions of 12,500 expats worldwide, which underlines its relevance.
Further information on the improvement of the Vienna image can be brought up in a report on www.meinbezirk.at can be read.
For the Viennese, however, it remains important to work on the social integration culture, while at the same time focusing on the positive aspects such as nature, culture and quality of life.