Copenhagen Is the Best City in the World to Live in Today free essay sample

COPENHAGEN IS THE BEST CITY IN THE WORLD TO LIVE IN TODAY Vanessa He ID num 114162020 Level 4 Writing Research Karley Doucette August 11, 2011 When people think of the best things, it differs from person to person. However, we are all looking for a place that fits our needs perfectly, which can be quite a herculean task. The turbulent economic backdrop makes the task even tougher for you. According to some market research and surveys, there are a handful of cities that were voted as the best cities to live: â€Å"In all the time, Dutch research scientist Ruut Veenhoven (2009) of Erasmus University in Rotterdam has been carrying out his surveys for the World Database of happiness, Copenhagen in Denmark has topped the list† (29). I fully support that Copenhagen must be the best city in the world to live in today, because Copenhagen has a fairly eager working environment; it is also in the forefront of the green movement; more than that, Copenhagen still has an appealing vacation time which is government mandated and paid. Copenhagen has an exoteric, informal working environment and a flexible labor market. When working in Copenhagen, your social life at work is concentrated around the lunch break and at social events during the year. â€Å"Every year almost 100,000 employers in Danish companies participate in an annual run in central Copenhagen† (Mark 2006, 134), which is a way of alleviating working stress as well as giving the employees a possibility of socializing. The Economist (2006) reported â€Å"it is Copenhagens exceptional performance on jobs that has attracted most attention. In some cases, â€Å"the Danish labor market model named under the label of the Nordic Labor Market Model, of which the main idea is that whenever a ? rm cannot keep workers productive in their current job, the government should take responsibility and retrain workers† (Tor and Niels 2009, 105). Therefore, we can say that one who lives in Copenhagen can give consideration to both work and social life, mo reover, with the government guarantee, you will never have to worry when layoffs happen. For the sake of health, people want to keep themselves, to the utmost, living a ‘Green Life’. Copenhagen is in the forefront of the green movement, from its bicycle lifestyle and green food to its electric cars. Regarding food, it is the paramount necessity of the people. However, lots of food producers are just concerned about flavor while neglecting the ingredients which sometimes add harmful trans fats. Maria (2006) reported: Copenhagen is a city that has such sharply limited trans fats, passing a law in 2003 that came into effect in 2004, making it illegal for any food to contain more than 2 percent of trans fat. The Danish health ministry reports that cardiovascular disease has fallen by 20 percent in the past five years. This is an obvious milestone in food industry. Apart from food, another case in point is the electric-power boats, which are so successful that they can eventually phase out the diesel-fueled ones. The electricity that powers these batteries comes from the offshore wind farms. Copenhagen has many of these wind farms: â€Å"Denmark is a windy country and it has been estimated that ten percent of the country’s electrical power can be obtained by building windmills† (Alan 2000, 95-96). So remember, when you ride on these electric-powered boats, you not only support the green movement but can get to enjoy your time with friends completely without noise or smoke. So, Copenhagen is indeed leading the way in helping preserve Mother Earth. Logically, with both food safe and environmental friendly merits, it is no doubt the best city to dwell. Last but not least, Copenhagen has a good amount of vacation time; the highlight is that this kind of vacation is government mandated and paid. There’s nothing like a three day weekend to make you wish you had more time off, especially in contemporary society. Vacation means people have more spare time, and they can have a good relaxing vacation, which is beneficial to their physical and mental health. According to a report, â€Å"Copenhagen, Sydney and Brasilia are the most liberal, mandating six weeks of  vacation. Copenhagen, we should note, has a six-day work week† (Anonymity 1995, 10) . This vacation includes 10 paid public holidays and all employees have the right to 25 days of vacation every year. The surplus days may exist in some industries depending on collective agreements between employers and employees. For many groups an additional 5 days are common. What may reach a consensus is that an ample vacation can help us to reconnect with ourselves, which also operates as a mode of self-discovery and helps us get back to feeling our best. What’s more, both employers and employees can gain advantages from employee vacations. One survey revealed that â€Å"for every dollar of vacation benefits paid to employees, employers receive a 3 dollar return in terms of morale and productivity† (Sharon 2009). To some extent, vacations can actually lower the risk of employee death, as well as improve job performance by providing certain health benefits. By this token, vacation is mainstream in Copenhagen; that’s the strongest reason for choosing Copenhagen as a desirable place. Whatever tickles your palate, there is sure to be something great in the capital city of Denmark. It is a green city with balanced working hours and frequent vacations. So with the fluctuating and dynamic economies of the world, the list of  best cities to live in the world  is bound to change, but now and in the near future, Copenhagen is sure to be first place. So before you make a move, make sure you have updated yourself with current information. References Veenhover, Runt. 2009. The happiest people in the world. Denmark Host Country, December 2 Salmon, Mark. 2006. Culture Smart! Denmark. Briton: Kuperard, an imprint of Bravo Ltd. Jaick, Amy, and Caroline Marrows. 006. Flexicurity-Denmark’ s labour market. The Economist, September 7. Eriksson, Tor, and Niels Westergaard- Nielsen. 2009. Wage and Labor Mobility in Denmark, 1980-2000. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Cheng, Maria. 2006. Denmark’ s trans fat tight brings hope to food lovers. Austin American-Statesman, October 29. Jauces, Alan. 2000. Major World Nations: Denmark. London: Chelsea House Publis hers. Anonymity. 1995. â€Å" Take the week off. † Executive Report 14. 2: 10 Yeates, Sharon. 2009. Should workers be guaranteed more vacation time? Helium, July 15.