Italians very satisfied with life in their cities. But not in Parma. According to what emerges from the ‘Quality of life in European cities’ survey, conducted by the European Commission with the contribution of Istat in a selection of European cities, in the Italian cities considered the share of the population satisfied with life in their city in 2023 is generally high (above 80%). The minimum value is recorded in Taranto (47.8%) and the maximum value in Trento (95.4%). And Trento in particular also ranks first in the European ranking (85 cities). However, rather low shares of the Italian population believe that the quality of life has improved in the last five years.
In six Italian cities, very high percentages of the population satisfied with living in their city are observed (above 90%) and they are: Trento, Trieste, Cagliari, Bergamo, Brescia, Bolzano/Bozen. While in Bari, over half of the population believes that the quality of life has improved in the last 5 years (one of the best results at European level), more than half of the citizens of some Italian cities believe that the quality of life in their city has worsened. Most of the citizens of Florence, Sassari, Bolzano/Bozen, Catania think this way. ParmaRome, Venice and Reggio Calabria.
In Italy, the highest percentages of citizens satisfied with public transport are those of Milan, Trieste and Bolzano/Bozen, while the lowest percentages are found in some cities of southern Italy, Rome and Perugia. Large shares of the EU’s urban population, including the Italian one, feel satisfied with schools and other training services. With reference to cultural infrastructures (theatres, museums, libraries), the Italian cities with the highest levels of satisfaction are Milan, Trento, Bergamo, Parma, Brescia, Trieste, Bolzano/Bozen, Florence. In around three-quarters of Italian cities, less than half of the inhabitants are satisfied with the cleanliness of the city. All southern cities and larger cities are part of this group.
Among the top 20 EU cities in which the car is indicated as the most often used means of transport we find almost all Italian cities in the Center and the South but also some cities in the North. In most cities in the survey universe, relatively low percentages of people believe it is easy to find good accommodation at a reasonable price. The problem is strongly accentuated in Florence, Milan and Bolzano/Bozen (where less than 5% of residents consider finding accommodation a simple operation).
In all the cities observed, over 50% of the inhabitants believe they can count on material help from friends, neighbors and other people in case of need. In all the cities examined, the majority of residents agree that their city is a good place to live for people in general, but less so for the immigrant population. The lowest percentages of those who consider the city a welcoming place for immigrants are observed in some cities in the South but also in Trieste and Genoa, while the highest percentage is found in Bologna (with values similar to those of Madrid and Helsinki). In Italian cities we observe the lowest percentages of people who feel safe walking alone at night in their city. The smallest shares (less than 30%) are found in Catania, Milan, Taranto, Genoa, Venice, Parma and Bari. Rome is the capital with the lowest percentage (36.8%) of those who feel safe walking alone at night.
Health services
The satisfaction of Italian citizens with health services shows a country split in two and “seems to reflect the historic North-South divide”. This was revealed by Istat in the Focus on the quality of life in Italian cities in 2023. Northern cities have percentages of citizens satisfied with healthcare that exceed 60% in almost all cases, while in southern cities they are all lower than 50%. . The percentages of satisfied people with health services fluctuate between 30 and 40% in Naples, Catania, Palermo, Messina and Cagliari. Even smaller percentages are found in Sassari, Taranto and Reggio Calabria (which has the minimum value at 18.2%). Rome and Genoa instead find themselves in an intermediate situation (with percentages around 50%). In Italian urban contexts, the highest satisfaction (over 70%) for health services it is registered in Bologna, followed by Verona, Florence, Trieste and Parma.
