2025's Most Dynamic and Livable Cities!

Global mobility teams play a big part in the success of international assignments. While the location of assignments is typically determined by business needs, understanding key characteristics of your company's locations is essential to effectively managing employee experiences, attracting top talent, and mitigating potential challenges.

There's a lot of data to help, too. Insights from respected sources such as the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) 2024 Global Liveability Index and the 2025 IESE Cities in Motion Index can support location-specific planning. Let's take a quick look at these resources:

Top Liveable Cities in 2024

The 2024 Global Liveability Index ranks cities based on a wide array of factors. This particular index compares 173 cities worldwide on 30 indicators across five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure, to determine the overall comfort of living in these cities. 

It highlights top locations like Vienna, Copenhagen, Zurich, Melbourne, Calgary, Geneva, Sydney, Vancouver, Osaka, and Auckland. Vienna, for example, excels particularly in stability, healthcare, and infrastructure, making it an attractive destination for expatriates and their families.

Most Dynamic Cities in 2025

The 2025 IESE Cities in Motion Index identifies dynamic cities with strengths in innovation, technology, governance, international outreach, and mobility. Some top contenders include London, New York, Paris, Tokyo, and Singapore. Out of the 183 cities it evaluated, London stands out for its global connectivity, economic opportunities, and strong governance.

Why is this important? Well, your mobility program may not be in charge of selecting your company's assignment locations, but your awareness of location data and ranking can significantly enhance your ability to guide assignees and partner with other teams who have a part to play in making the assignment successful. Some of the ways your mobility team can use location-specific data include:

Strategic Advisory: Provide insightful guidance to business stakeholders regarding potential assignment challenges or strengths related to specific locations.

Employee and Family Support: Develop tailored pre-departure training, onboarding, and ongoing support that addresses specific location-based needs such as healthcare access, education quality, and cultural integration.

Talent Attraction and Retention: Leverage positive aspects of cities in employer branding and communications to appeal to candidates considering international assignments, making assignments more attractive.

Proactive Risk Management: Anticipate potential issues such as security risks, infrastructure limitations, or cultural challenges, allowing for targeted interventions and contingency planning.

By incorporating these insights, global mobility programs can strategically manage international assignments, creating amazing employee experiences and ultimately helping your company meet bigger growth and talent development goals.