Yekaterinburg comes in among top Russian cities for quality of living

Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don were recently ranked as the top cities for quality of living.

The Russian Ministry of Regional Development, in coordination with Moscow State University and the Union of Engineers, ranked 164 Russian cities based on population growth, demographics, welfare of citizens, social infrastructure, innovative activities, housing accessibility, transport and engineering infrastructure.

Cities with over one million inhabitants achieved the highest ranking in all major indicators, though housing accessibility ranked very low.

The ministry listed Krasnodar, Sochi and Kalininigrad as having "advantages in development." Tomsk, Omsk, Surgut, Tyumen, Irkutsk, Yaroslavl and Saratov were said to be "attractive for investments," and Podolsk, Khimki, Balashikha and Mytischi were said to have "high construction dynamics."

Cities such as Chalyabinsk, Magnitogorsk and Kamen-Uralsk were ranked in the middle because of their dependence on a limited number of industries. Vladmir, Volzhksy and Youzhno-Sakhalinsk were also ranked in the middle because of their diversified economies.

Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Voronezh were listed as having "intense innovative development," while Kazan was said to be the city with the most favorable investment policy. Tomsk was named the "center of science and innovation with diversified energy and oil branches."