While there are more job opportunities and amenities in capital cities, these are often viewed as offering less affordable housing and poorer-quality public services
While they often promise more job opportunities and a vibrant cultural life, Europe's capitals are not the cities where people living on the Old Continent feel most satisfied with their lives. If you want to meet happy Europeans, you might need to look further afield than these major urban centers.
During the pandemic, there was much talk of an urban exodus, with population categories from remote workers to families to retired couples leaving big cities for the countryside. Those who didn't opt for a country lifestyle headed to small or medium-sized cities in search of a different pace of life or more affordable living.Now, research from the European Commission suggests that this may have been a wise move when it comes to life satisfaction. The recently published report analyzes the cities offering the best quality of life in Europe. No fewer than 83 cities were analyzed, and over 70,000 people were questioned. Overall, Europeans report feeling more satisfied with their lives when they live in smaller cities. Generally speaking, those surveyed tend to feel safer in these smaller cities, which are also perceived as cleaner and quieter. According to the report, smaller cities are considered better places to live for older people and families. Moreover, while there are more job opportunities and amenities in capital cities, these are often viewed as offering less affordable housing and poorer-quality public services.
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These destinations cannot necessarily be described as "small" cities, since they all have more than 200,000 inhabitants, and even more than 415,000 for the first-place winner Zurich (Switzerland), and up to almost 500,000 for Gdańsk. So while size may be a relative concept, living outside of a capital city also appears to play a role in how satisfied Europeans feel with living in a city.
1. Zurich (Switzerland) (97%)
2. Copenhagen (Denmark) (96%)
3. Groningen (Netherlands) (96%)
4. Gdańsk (Poland) (95%)
5. Leipzig (Germany) (95%)
6. Stockholm (Sweden) (95%)
7. Geneva (Switzerland) (95%)
8. Rostock (Germany (94%)
9. Cluj-Napoca (Romania) (94%)
10. Braga (Portugal) (94%)