Both Shetland and Aberdeenshire also feature in the top 50 rural areas quality of life survey for Britain as a whole.

BBC: Shetland leads Bank of Scotland Quality of Life list

Wokingham, East Cambridgeshire, Brentwood, St Albans, Maidstone, South Cambridgeshire and Epsom and Ewell were all among the top 10 in the 2011 Quality of Life Survey.

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Runner-up Shetland's residents were ranked as having the best quality of life in the 2008 survey.

BBC: Aberdeenshire tops 'quality of life' list

The starting point was a pioneering study in the mid-1970s on the ecology and metabolism of the city of Hong Kong, combined with a survey of the quality of life of individuals and human adaptation.

UNESCO: Urban connections of biosphere reserves

The survey also revealed that while quality-of-life crimes are rising, budget money is falling.

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