Copenhagen has come in a high second in the annual sweepstakes of the world’s 25 most livable cities, according to Monocle Magazine’s Quality of Life survey.

“For a brief moment, we thought of being diplomatic and posting a tie, but we don’t fancy ourselves as civil servants, so this year we’re giving the top spot to Zürich,” says Monocle Chairman Tyler Brûlé of the competition between Zürich and Copenhagen, last year’s Number One ahead of Munich.

Monocle Magazine is a weekly magazine wiriting on international affairs, culture and design and with headquarters in London.

Out of an initial array of 40 cities, Monocle chose 25 for its shortlist, studying everything from public transport, education, cultural outlets, crime, hours of sunshine, global flight connections, chain store pollution and ease of opening a business, to infrastructure improvements.

What pipped Copenhagen at the post was the ongoing development of Zurich airport combined with the transformation of the city’s Hauptbahnhof, Brûlé says.

Other Nordic capitals are also represented in the listings, with Helsinki in fifth place and Stockholm in sixth. Both the Finnish and Swedish capitals have previously figured in the Monocle list, while the Norwegian capital Oslo entered the listing for the first time this year in 17th place.