The quality of life in European cities

1. The quality of life in European cities as seen by the citizens and measured by the European Urban Audit Klaus Trutzelc/o Bureau for Statistics and Urban Research City of Nuremberg, Germany KOSIS association of the German Urban Audit cities

2. Structure of this presentation 1. The Urban Audit – concept and coverage 2. UA analysis – examples of results 3. EU perception survey – concept and coverage 4. Perception survey – some comparative results 5. Attempts to correlate perceptions and „hard facts“ 6. Influence of geographical location 7. Conclusions The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

3. The Urban Audit – concept and coverage  Database of reliable and comparable statistical information for European, national (and local) urban policies  A joint effort by DG Regional Policy and Eurostat in cooperation with the National Statistical Offices and the Cities  It has become a permanent task of the European Statistical System The Urban Audit has started a new round of data collection 2009-10 for reference years 2005*, 2006*, 2007*, 2008, 2009* after 2006-07 for reference year 2004 and 2002-03 for reference years 2001, 1996, 1991 ___________ *) reduced data set The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

4. Urban Audit 2006 involving ‘Urban Audit cities’: 362 citiesEU27 321 cities Croatia 5 cities Turkey 26 citiesSwitzerl. 4 cities Norway 6 cities Plus 222 cities (>100,000 pop.) of “Large City Audit” Source: Eurostat

5. Larger Urban Zone Core 005 004 003 001 005 001 002 006 Levels of observation in the Urban Audit Urban Audit Cities Core city 338 variables Larger Urban Zone 185 variables Sub-city Districts 53 variables Large City Audit Cities 53 variables National Level 229 variables The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

6. Content Structure of the Urban Audit 1. DEMOGRAPHY • Population • Nationality • Migration • Household Structure 2. SOCIAL ASPECTS • Housing • Health and Health Care • Crime 3. ECONOMIC ASPECTS • Labour Market • Economic Activity • Income, Income Disparities 4. CIVIC INVOLVEMENT • Participation in Elections • Local Administration 5. TRAINING AND EDUCATION • Education & Training: Provision • Educational attainment 6. ENVIRONMENT • Climate • Air Quality and Noise • Water • Waste Management • Land Use 7. TRAVEL AND TRANSPORT • Modes of Transport • Public Transport • Accessibility 8. INFORMATION SOCIETY 9. CULTURE AND RECREATION • Culture and Recreation • Tourism The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

7. 2. Urban Audit analysis – examples of results - Disparities among Cities: Real GDP Growth 1996-2001 Source: DG Regio (ed.), State of the European Cities Report, May 2007

8. Inner-city Disparities: Unemployment Rates 2001 Source: DG Regio (ed.), State of the European Cities Report, May 2007

9. the role of talent Source: DG Regio (ed.), State of the European Cities Report, May 2007

10. Co-operative analysis of the UA with “Dashboard” *) Comparison between cities UA analysis by the cities:An example from Germany *) European Statistical Laboratory of the Commission’s Joint Research Centre JRC

11. 200 Reinvented International capitals Hubs Knowledge hubs Established capitals 150 Specialised Poles Research centres Modern compared to country industrial GDP per capita - National service average = 100 centres hubs Regional Visitor centres Gateways Backbones Transformation Satellite 100 poles Regional towns market centres Regional public De-indus- service centres trialised cities 80 100000 250000 350000 500000 1000000 2000000 Population in core city City Types and GDP Level Source: DG Regio (ed.), State of the European Cities Report, May 2007

12. 3. EU Perception Survey - concept & coverage  The quality of life is not only determined by the environment in which people live, it is also a matter of people‘s perception of this environment and of their attitude towards it.  To politicians and to the media, these perceptions are at least asimportant facts as the „hard statistical data“.  The Urban Audit has therefore been accompanied by perception surveys based on sample surveys and telephone interviews in a growing number of cities. New Perception Survey starting in Nov. 2009: ..... interviews in ... cities after the Perception Survey of Nov. 2006: 500 interviews in 75 cities*) and the Perception Survey of Jan. 2004: 300 interviews in 31 cities_______________ *) inCzech Republic: Only Praha and Ostrava The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

13. The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________ Co-operative perception survey of German cities 2006 • 15 German cities agreed to conduct a joint perception survey •  with the same questions with the same method (telephone interviews) with at least the same sample size of 500 per city at the same time (in Nov. / Dec. 2006) as DG Regio DG Regio agreed to exchange the data: results of 90 cities in Europe and 22 cities in Germany could be analysed Publications (in German): VDSt: Lebensqualität aus Bürgersicht, Frankfurt a.M., 2008, ISSN 0934-5868 Difu: Lebenszufriedenheit in europäischen Städten, Berlin 2008, ISSN 1864-2853

14. The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________ EU perception survey - 3 sets of questions in 2006 and 2004: very satisfied > < not at all satisfied with the following services  public transport in the city  schools health care services by hospitals health care services by doctors green spaces (parks, gardens) sports facilities cinemas cultural facilities public Internet access internet access at home Strongly agree > < strongly disagree with the following statements  in this city it is easy to find a good job foreigners are well integrated easy to find good housing at reasonable price administrative services help you efficiently air pollution is a big problem noise is a big problem this city is a clean city  spends its resources in a responsible way you are satisfied to live in this city in the next five years, it will be more pleasant to live in this city • Is it true that you - always ... never - ... •  have difficulty paying your bills at the end of the month feel safe in the neighbourhood you live in feel safe in this city

15. The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________ 4. EU Perception Survey - some comparative results -

16. The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

17. Source: Lewis Dijkstra, GD Regional Policy, 2008

18. 5. Correlating perceptions and „hard facts“ Weak correlations:unemployment – easy to find a job Source: Corinne Hermant-de Callataÿ (DG REGIO) and Berthold Feldmann (Eurostat)

19. The perception of safety is determined by other factors than by the number of recorded crimes Feeling safe in neighbourhood by recorded burglaries in 2004 100 90 80 70 "The neighbourhood is safe: always" (%) R² = 0.0625 60 Colour: 50 Other EU Germany 40 Source: EU perception survey 30 0 10 20 Recorded burglaries per 1000 population

20. Feeling always safe in neighbourhood by number of domestic burglaries per 100,000 pop. Perception survey of German cities 2007 90 Konstanz München Dresden Koblenz Braunschweig Freiburg Nürnberg R² = 0,69 80 Stuttgart Heidelberg Percent feeling always safe in neighbourhood Frankfurt/Oder Saarbrücken Darmstadt Oberhausen Dortmund Leipzig Frankfurt/M. Hamburg Essen Wiesbaden 70 Berlin Bremen Köln 60 0 100 200 300 400 500 Domestic burglaries per 100,000 population Source: Waespi-Oeß, Saarbrücken The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

21. Public transport – provision and satisfaction in German cities •  Combining Urban Audit results with citizens‘ satisfaction („very satisfied“ or „rather satisfied“) for public transport in the city there is hardly any correlation between perceived/expressed satisfaction and •  density of the network (length of lines per km²) r² = 0.07 • density of stops of public transport (stops per km²) r² = 0.10 • share of rail lines in public transport r² = 0,12 Citizens take the provided infrastructure for granted. Their degree of satisfaction is therefore determined by other qualitative aspects. Qualitative aspects asmeasured by the Urban Audit cannot simply be translated into citizens‘ satisfaction nor vice versa. The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________

22. The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________ Air pollution as perceived and as measured

23. Urban Audit typology 2004 & Perception Survey typology 2006 combined- number of cities in the combined groups - There is no correlation between city type based on results of the perception survey and the city type describing the competitiveness of the city.

24. 6. Influence of geographical location Citizens‘ perception and statistical measurement may differ – but both are politically relevant facts.

25. 7. Conclusions (1) Urban Audit has increased the understanding of potentials and deficiencies of the European cities with regard to the Lisbon and Gothenburg goals. (2) The vast disparities among cities and neighbourhoods was a main finding. (3) Dimensions of the quality of life measured by the perception survey differ from the „hard facts“ even for the same aspects. (4) Perception survey is an important addition to the Urban Audit revealing facts that are equally relevant to politicians and media as the „hard“ statistical data. (5) More up-to-date information may increase the use of these rich data sources. (6) NSIs are encouraged to initiate parallel perceptionsurveys to support national comparisons in the European context. Thank you for your attention! ....any questions? The quality of life in European cities – Urban Audit and citizens‘ perception ________________