Eastern Member States have seen the highest increases in numbers of people who say that their city is a good place to live and that quality of life has improved in the past five years. This continues a trend from the previous survey in 2019.
‘Quality of life depends, crucially, on the amenities and opportunities in the place where we live,’ European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said at the official presentation of the report in Brussels.
‘Amenity and opportunity do not happen by chance – intelligent effort by Europe’s cities is key. And European cohesion policy supports them, as part of our mission to ensure that no place is left behind,’ she said.
Another important finding is that quality of life is higher in small and medium-sized cities, which residents of all ages find are safer, cleaner, and less noisy.
Cities in eastern Members States are catching up
Overall, the top EU cities are the Danish capital Copenhagen, and Groningen in the Netherlands: 96 % of people in both cities are satisfied with living there. Gdańsk, in Poland, is a close third, with a score of 95 %.
While overall satisfaction has been found to be highest in cities located in northern and western Member States, people living in cities in eastern Member States more frequently report quality of life in their city has increased over the past 5 years. Indeed, the top nine cities where people have noted recent improvements in quality of life are all in eastern Member States, led by Białystok (62 %) and Gdańsk (60 %) in Poland, and Cluj-Napoca (59 %).
Opportunities and challenges
Just under half (47 %) of respondents think it is easy to find work in their city, rising to 51 % in capital cities. People were most positive in the Czech capital, Prague (79 %); Cluj-Napoca (73 %); and Germany’s third-largest city, Munich (72 %). Six of the 10 cities where optimism about employment is highest are in the eastern EU.
However, the picture is different in the south. Just 4 % of people in the Sicilian capital Palermo feel optimistic about employment prospects, and 9 of the 10 cities with the highest levels of pessimism are in southern Member States.
A lack of affordable housing, particularly in capitals, was one of the main challenges identified. Just 34 % of people agree that it is easy to find good housing in their city. This falls to 28 % in capitals and rises to 39 % in other cities. Aalborg, in Denmark, and Oulu, in Finland, have the highest numbers of people agreeing (both 68 %).
Satisfaction with other features of city life is also higher in non-capital cities. These include public spaces (78 % of respondents in non-capitals were satisfied compared with 72 % in capitals), green spaces (78 % versus 73 %), cultural facilities (83 % versus 80 %), healthcare (71 % versus 62 %) and local public administration (57 % versus 50 %).
Larger is not always better
Smaller cities in general have advantages over their larger counterparts. All three EU cities considered good places to live for older people– Rostock, Luxembourg and Piatra Neamţ, in Romania (all with a 95 % score) – have fewer than 250 000 inhabitants. Moreover, 82 % of people in non-capital cities see their cities as good places for older people to live. For capitals this falls to 73 %.
Similarly, two of the three cities considered to be good places for families with young children have populations below 250 000: Oulu and Braga (both with scores of 95 %). More people in non-capital cities than in capitals consider their city as a good place for bringing up children (84 % compared with 77 %).
Non-capital cities are seen a better place for immigrants to live (75 % compared with 70 %). Braga and Groningen are two of the three highest-rated EU cities, with scores of 89 % and 88 % respectively.
Smaller cities figure prominently among those where people feel safest walking alone at night. Oviedo, in Spain, and the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana are in the top three, both with 87 % of residents feeling safe.
The same is true for air quality, noise and cleanliness: Rostock and Aalborg rank in the top three in the EU for numbers of residents satisfied with air quality (88 % and 87 % respectively); Oulu (87 %) and Malmö, in Sweden, (82 %) are in the top three for the share of people who consider noise levels satisfactory. In Luxembourg and Białystok, 93 % and 89 % percent respectively of residents surveyed are satisfied with the cleanliness of their cities.
Vital amenities
Although cities often have vibrant social scenes, loneliness is a problem, as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted. Some 13 % of city dwellers reported having felt lonely for most of the 4 weeks prior to participating in the survey, which comes close to the findings of the 2022 EU loneliness survey.
Young adults are more likely (15 %) to feel lonely than middle-aged people and the elderly (12 % and 11 % respectively). Amenities may help: easy access to cultural facilities and green spaces is associated with reduced loneliness.
Mobility is an important part of life in European cities. Cars remain the most widely used transport mode, among 48 % of residents, but public transport (43 %) is a close second. Walking is gaining in popularity, with 27 % of people getting around on foot – up 3 percentage points from 2019. In EU cities, 73 % of people are satisfied with public transport: 83 % see it as safe, and 82 % consider it accessible.
EU cohesion policy will continue to support efforts to provide better services and opportunities to people in Europe’s cities, as part of its mission to reduce disparities in living standards.
The report is based on the survey on the quality of life in European cities. A sample of at least 839 residents was interviewed in each city, or a total of 71 153 people.
