Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province are respectively eighth, ninth and seventh in the top cities in the MENA list for 2015. 72% of people living in Jeddah and 62% in Eastern Province are either very happy or somewhat happy in their current city of residence, a new survey by Bayt.com, the number one career site in the Middle East, and YouGov, a pioneer in online market research, entitled ‘Top Cities in the Middle East and North Africa Survey 2015' revealed. The availability of jobs in Riyadh is either good or excellent according to almost 5 in 10 respondents. 42% and 39% of respondents from Eastern Province and Jeddah respectively believe that the availability of jobs is either good or excellent; on the other hand, 31% and 32% of them believe it is either bad or poor. 35% of respondents in Jeddah and 40% in Riyadh believe that competitive salaries are either good or excellent. Other important economic factors in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province include benefits for working parents, personal career growth and reasonably priced amenities. Riyadh and Eastern Province scored better when it came to the availability of affordable housing. In terms of economic factors, Riyadh, Eastern Province and Jeddah came fourth, eighth and ninth respectively, region-wide. In terms of labor rights, Jeddah, Eastern Province and Riyadh scored sixth, seventh and ninth top-scoring city in the MENA region. Respondents from Jeddah, Eastern Province and Riyadh believe that they have good-to-excellent end of service benefits (respectively: 35%, 34% and 35%), termination rights (respectively: 27%, 27% and 28%), vacation allowances (respectively: 41%, 38% and 41%), parenthood allowances (respectively: 23%, 22% and 19%), wage protection system (respectively: 34%, 30% and 35%), health insurance and social security systems (respectively: 50%, 56% and 47%), and pro-active policy making (respectively: 28%, 27% and 27%). Environmental factors form a set of important aspects related to comfort and cleanliness that affect the overall quality of life in a city. Close to half of respondents in Riyadh (49%) and Eastern Province (47%) say that the cleanliness of their city streets is good-to-excellent. Other important environmental factors in Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province respectively include clean air (good-to-excellent: 27%, 22% and 36%), clean water (good-to-excellent: 53%, 56% and 57%), beauty of the architecture and buildings (good-to-excellent: 50%, 52% and 47%) and manageable traffic (good-to-excellent: 25%, 27% and 39%). The KSA emerges as the top destination for a high standard of living with its three cities – Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province – recording high scores among the top 10 cities in the MENA. According to the majority of respondents, Jeddah, Riyadh and Eastern Province rate respectively as either good or excellent on the key factors affecting the standard of living. Respectively, these factors include the feeling of stability and security (good-to-excellent: 68%, 61% and 66%), the availability of healthcare facilities (good-to-excellent: 44%, 55% and 52%), water/electricity/sewage systems (good-to-excellent: 42%, 64% and 60%), and the quality of education (good-to-excellent: 40%, 38% and 41%). The socio-cultural factors are forces within cultures, societies and cities that affect the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of individuals who are a part of them. Important socio-cultural factors in the KSA include low crime rates, rated as good-to-excellent by 64% of Jeddah, 58% of Riyadh and 66% of Eastern Province respondents; a stable political environment, rated as good-to-excellent by 65% of Jeddah, 58% of Riyadh and 49% of Eastern Province respondents; and effective law enforcement rated as good-to-excellent by 52% of Jeddah, 49% of Riyadh and 50% of Eastern Province respondents. In Jeddah, 1 in 5 respondents (20%) ranked culture and arts offerings as good-to-excellent. 35% said the same about the availability of family-friendly activities and 33% about the availability of outdoor/sports activities. 37% of Riyadh respondents found the availability of world heritage sites/preserved old towns as good-to-excellent. In Eastern Province, 34% of respondents rate natural areas/landscapes and 30% rate the availability of outdoor/sports activities (30%) as good-to-excellent. Entrepreneurship has an impact on a city's prosperity, and KSA's Eastern Province, Riyadh and Jeddah ranked as seventh, eighth and ninth respectively in the top ten cities in the MENA for starting a business. Eastern Province, Riyadh and Jeddah ranked either good or excellent among respondents, respectively, on the following factors: the ease of starting a new business (31%, 25% and 24%), lack of bureaucracy in procedures and paperwork (27%, 26% and 22%), ease of finding finances to start a business (31%, 25% and 24%), market willingness to accept new ideas and innovations (34%, 40% and 42%), market saturation (37%, 35% and 37%), ability to find local talent to employ (34%, 31% and 34%), and affordability of taxes and fees (42%, 51% and 48%). Suhail Masri, Vice President of Sales, Bayt.com, said: "As the leading career site in the region, it is our responsibility to showcase the best-performing cities in the region, so that job seekers can make an informed assessment if they are looking to move and employers can do more to contribute to their city's standard of living and wellbeing." Masri further said: "The MENA region is very diverse when it comes to the factors that affect the overall quality of living in each city. At Bayt.com, our mission has always been to empower people with the tools and technologies to build their lifestyle of choice, and we want to empower people with valuable insights into life in cities that they might choose to live in." Elissavet Vraka, Research Manager, YouGov, said: "It is through this kind of market research that we are able to provide a profile of cities across the Middle East and North Africa today so that both employers and job seekers gain valuable insights into the various factors that affect the standard of living in their city of choice." — SG
