EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DIRECTORATE-GENERAL REGIONAL AND URBAN POLICY
Policy Development and Economic Analysis
What city in Europe has the best quality of life, according to its citizens? What city is the cleanest, the safest, or the most inclusive? In which city is easier to find a good job or an affordable house? And where, in Europe, are cities’ residents more satisfied with urban public transport or with air quality?
Answers to these questions – and many others – will be provided by the 2023 report on the quality of life in European cities that will be launched and discussed on 12 December 2023. The report analyses survey data from the sixth edition of the perception survey on the quality of life in European cities, conducted across a sample of 83 European cities in April 2023, for a total of more than 70,000 interviews.
The event will take place in Brussels, from 09:30 to 13:00, in the Charlemagne Building of the European Commission, Lord Jenkins room.
If you would like to participate, either in-person or online, please register here.
Background information
Cities are important drivers of economic growth in the EU. It is in cities where most citizens live, where the biggest share of the Gross Domestic Product is generated, where a large part of EU policies and legislation are implemented and where a significant share of EU funds is spent. At the same time, many challenges have a strong impact on cities and it is there that they are best addressed. These challenges can be related to global issues (e.g. unemployment, migration, impacts of disasters exacerbated by climate change, sustainable production and consumption or biodiversity loss, grey and black economy, etc.) but they can also be related to local issues, linked closely to the quality of life of their citizens (e.g. air quality, availability recreational space, traffic and noise levels, water pollution, etc.).
Since 2007, the European Commission monitors regularly, every three years, the quality of life in European cities, through a dedicated survey. The survey is conducted on a total of 83 European cities. It covers all capital cities of the countries concerned (except for Switzerland), together with between one and six more cities in the larger countries. In 2023, in each city, more than 800 citizens were contacted, for a total of 71 153 completed interviews. The survey exclusively focuses on perceived quality of life, showing how satisfied people are with various aspects of urban life, such as employment opportunities, availability of green and recreational public spaces, public transports or environmental issues (i.e. air quality).
Results from the previous editions of the survey can be found at: https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/information-sources/maps/quality-of-life_en and on the EUROSTAT website at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/cities/background
AGENDA OF THE LAUNCH OF THE 2023 PERCEPTION SURVEY ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN EUROPEAN CITIES
12 DECEMBER 2023
Location: Charlemagne, room LORD JENKINS, Rue de la Loi 170, Brussels
09:30-10:00
• Welcome coffee.
10:00-10:20
• Opening
o Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms (video message)
o Welcome by EUROSTAT and DG REGIO
10:20-11:30
• Presentation of main findings of the report on the 2023 Perception survey on the quality of life in European cities
11:30-12:20
• Discussion of the main findings
o Dorthe Nielsen, Executive Director at EUROCITIES
o Paolo Veneri, Full Professor of Economic Policy at the Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila (IT)
o Lewis Dijkstra, Head of the Urban and Territorial Analysis team, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, Ispra (IT)
12:20-12:50
• Q&A
12:50-13:00
• Closing remarks