November 17, 2012. Yekaterinburg was given the 4th position in the general rating of Russian cities for 2011; this rating was compiled by the Russian Union of Engineers. The first three positions were given to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Novosibirsk, the Union’s report states.

Yekaterinburg got 20 points altogether, which was only 0.7 points less than what Novosibirsk got. For one, the capital of the Urals is behind the capital of Siberia in terms of affordability of housing, innovational activity, and quality of cadre. Yet Yekaterinburg does better in terms of residents’ welfare, societal characteristics, environmental and nature-use potential, and some other aspects.

Rostov-on-Don came 5th, Kazan came 6th, and Krasnodar came 7th in the rating. Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, and Ufa were also featured among the top ten cities.

It is reported that this year’s rating was special in that a very wide range of criteria was applied; some of these criteria have never been used before.