According to a recent report by Mercer, a US consulting firm, Beirut is one of the least hospitable places on Earth when measured against the firm’s annual “quality of life” index. It ranks 175th out of 215 countries surveyed. I find this news a little hard to digest. Even within the Middle East, the people at Mercer say the Lebanese capital doesn’t perform well. They say its “quality of life” trails behind that of Kuwait City, Riyadh and Jeddah.
Why then is everyone dying to be in Beirut?
The New York Times has rated the Lebanese capital number one city to visit in 2009. This summer thousands of Saudis, Kuwaitis and other Gulf Arabs flooded its streets, as they do every year, eager to spend loads of cash in the city’s luxurious bars, restaurants and hotels.
Yes, tourism and quality of life are totally different indicators, and Beirut has many problems politically and econo mically. Corruption is widespread, there is a huge gap between rich and poor, traffic and state services can be terrible. But these problems exist in different forms in other cities. (Why does it take me 45 minutes to travel 5 kilometers in NYC?)
Plus the Mercer survey is not about reporting wealth distribution or political mobility for average citizens. It’s intended largely as a tool for multinational corporations in assessing hardship allowances for executives sent to live abroad.
Judging by the endless stream of parties thrown by diplomats and executives in Beirut, I wonder how “quality of life” is defined.
Beirut has its disadvantages and so do other cities on the list, especially in the Middle East. But when it comes to climate, geography, attractions, cultural diversity, entertainment, dining, social life and personal liberties, Beirut is at the forefront. (Thus the high tourism numbers, especially from Arab countries.)
Perhaps these factors did not carry much weight in the final assessment; but again, how does one define quality of life? Is infrastructure more important than entertainment and social relations?
I admit, doing business in Beirut can be challenging yet at the same time, the cost of living (such as groceries/rent) is much cheaper than Western capitals – while income taxes are relatively non-existent. Yes there is political violence (aimed mainly at politicians), but crime is insignificant compared to Europe and the US.
Beirut has plenty of other problems: the Internet is slow, cell phones are expensive – but these are offset by panoramic views of the sea on a daily basis, cheap housing, beaches, mountains, sking less than an hour away … beautiful retreats urban and rural, layers of fascinating history to explore, exciting nightlife, the list goes on and on …
It may not be conventional, but Beirut definitely has quality of life, heaps of it. To rank the city 100 places behind Dubai and 125 places behind New York and 50 places below Kuwait just doesn’t seem right.
Perhaps it would be interesting to visit other cities ranked on the bottom of Mercer’s list and see if “quality of life” there is really as bad as they say it is.

Habib Battah is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker based in New York and Beirut. He blogs at www.beirutreport.blogspot.com