Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

QUALITY OF LIFE

This city is the ‘best place to live in Italy’

A new survey reveals the very best place to live in Italy. Yes, it is in the north, and no, it's not Milan or Turin. Welcome to Bolzano.

Published: 21 December 2015 12:00 CET
This city is the 'best place to live in Italy'
Is this the best place to live in Italy? Photo: Aleksandr Zykov/Flickr

Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore has released its annual quality of life survey, revealing the best and worst places to live in the country. The rankings are based on criteria including the strength of the economy, environmental factors and leisure activities.

The survey named Bolzano in South Tyrol as the city with the best quality of life, followed by Milan, which shot up from eighth place in the rankings last year. 

The results seemed to confirm the strong divide between Italy's north and south, with Reggio Calabria finishing last out of the 110 cities and towns analyzed and receiving particularly poor grades for average income, family assets and provision of childcare.

Bolzano had double the employment rate of Reggio Calabria, while Milan’s employment rate was 70 percent higher than that of Naples. The Gini index, a measure of income inequality, is 15 percent higher in the south than the north, and there are three times as many families living in poverty in the south of the country, according to the survey.

This is Bolzano’s fifth year in the top spot of the survey, which has been running for 26 years. It was also crowned the best place to live in 1995, 2001, 2010 and 2012.


Italy's best town? Bolzano from above. Photo: Matt Northam/Flickr.

In addition to its high employment rate, Bolzano was recognized for the high average life expectancy and also scored well in the free time category, which measured the amount of time residents spent at cultural activities such as concerts and taking part in sports.

READ MORE: What makes life in Bolzano so good?

Rome fell to 16th place from 12th last year, with the top ten occupied largely by northern and central regions, with the exception of the Sardinian city of Olbia.

Most of the top-ranked locations are small or medium-sized towns and cities, making Milan’s rise up the league table a surprise. It scored well for welfare – particularly due to good pensions and GDP – as well as services and recreation opportunities, though like most big cities it performed less well in the categories of environment and security.

The survey measures 36 indicators of quality of life, organized into six thematic areas, with a winner was crowned in each of these categories as well as the overall top ten: quality of life (Milan), business and labour (Prato), health services and environment (Monza and Brianza), population (Olbia Tempio), public order (Nuoro), and free time Rimini).

The top 10 Italian cities to live in:

1. Bolzano, South Tyrol
2. Milan, Lombardy
3. Trento, Trentino
4. Florence, Tuscany
5. Sondrio, Lombardy
6. Olbia, Sardinia
7. Cuneo, Piedmont
8. Aosta, Valle D'Aosta
9. Siena, Tuscany
10. Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna

The full map showing the survey's results in Italian can be viewed here.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

QUALITY OF LIFE

‘Pleasantly constant’: Why Switzerland ranks as the ‘world’s best country’ — again

For the sixth time, Switzerland wins the coveted title of the world’s top country in an international ranking. Why does the nation make it to the no.1 spot —time after time?

Published: 6 September 2023 11:31 CEST
'Pleasantly constant': Why Switzerland ranks as the 'world’s best country' — again

It’s official: Switzerland has been ranked ahead of 87 other countries analysed by the US News & World Report for its 2023 ranking, which was released on Wednesday morning. 

It is the sixth time that Switzerland tops the rankings, which measure a country’s global performance based on 73 categories. They include entrepreneurship; quality of life; adaptability and progress; social purpose; and other attributes listed here. 

What exactly makes Switzerland the best in the world?

The country “snags the top spot for business-friendliness and education, “and ranks in the top 10 for quality of life, social purpose and cultural influence,” according to study authors. “Among attributes, it was considered No.1 for being economically stable, safe and least corrupt.”

“And while people may not see it as the sexiest place, they would like to live there.”

One of Switzerland’s top qualities, the study showed, is ‘consistency.’

Unlike the political and economic volatility of many other countries, “there is something pleasantly constant about Switzerland,” the survey found.

It is true that change of any kind is slow to come here.

Part of the reason for this sluggishness is cultural: the Swiss don’t like spontaneity (unless it’s planned) or doing anything on a whim. 

They believe that rushing things and making hasty decisions will have disastrous results, which is why they prefer to take a cautious — even if painstakingly slow — path.

As a general rule, the Swiss have a penchant not only for planning, but for pre-planning as well. They like to thoroughly examine each aspect of a proposed change and look at it from all possible angles.

Another reason (besides the cultural one mentioned above) contributes to Switzerland’s notorious slowness in decision-making — the country’s political system.

Due to Switzerland’s decentralised form of government, the Federal Council must consult with cantons before a decision can be made at the national level.

That, as you can imagine, could take a while as each of the 26 cantons may drag their individual feet, and there could be no consensus among them.

READ ALSO : Why are things so slow to change in Switzerland? 

While some may see this ‘consistency’ as a negative, the US News & World Report considers it to be a definite plus.

How did Switzerland rank in major categories?

‘Open for business’

In this category, the country is in the first place (100 points out of 100).

Simply, this means  the country  is ‘business friendly’ because the government has created a good environment for businesses to thrive. 

“Switzerland has low unemployment, a skilled labour force and one of the highest gross domestic products per capita in the world,” the report relates. 

‘Educated population’

Here, too, Switzerland excels (100 points, first place).

Switzerland not only has an excellent and accessible education system, but according to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), well over 80 percent of the country’s population have an upper secondary education or above.

This proportion is higher than the OECD average of 75 percent.

READ ALSO: How can foreigners get into a Swiss university?

‘Quality of life’

Here, Switzerland also got a high score ( 96.7), which places it in the fourth place.

This particular category, which includes essentials such as broad access to food, housing, quality education, healthcare, and employment, also comprises “intangibles such as job security, political stability, individual freedom and environmental quality.”

This is not exactly a surprise, as Switzerland often ranks highly in this category in other international surveys as well. 

In which categories does Switzerland rate poorly?

‘Power’

Switzerland’s score here is 26, which lands it in the 20th place.

But this is actually good news, if you consider criteria for this category:

“The world’s most powerful countries also are the ones that consistently dominate news headlines, preoccupy policymakers and shape global economic patterns. Their foreign policies and military budgets are tracked religiously.”

Needless to say, Switzerland has no interest in wielding global power.

Besides (unintentionally) invading neighbouring Liechtenstein on three occasions, Switzerland is not at all power-hungry.

This is not only because it is neutral, but also because its politics is based on peaceful coexistence.

(The number 1 spot in this category was snagged, not surprisingly, by the United States).

‘Movers’

This too is not a major surprise, since the sub-category here is ‘dynamic’, for which Switzerland was given a low score of 29.1.

The country did a bit better in the ‘distinctive’ and ‘unique’ sub-category, with scores of 43.5 and 42.1, respectively.

Overall, Switzerland is in the 26th place.

You can see details of each category here.

What is the Swiss reaction to the report?

Overwhelmingly positive, of course.

“What people love about us is our reliability and our predictability,” said Jacques Pitteloud, the Swiss ambassador to the U.S.

“With us, you know what you get, which is rare nowadays,” Alexandre Edelmann, head of Presence Switzerland, a government agency that promotes the country abroad, pointed out.

SHOW COMMENTS