Braga is among the 10 European cities where residents feel the most satisfaction in living, but it is also the city in Europe where most residents use a car on a daily basis, according to a European Commission report released today.
The conclusions are contained in the 112-page report on Quality of Life in Europe, based on a survey carried out between January and April 2023, covering more than 71,000 residents of 83 cities in the European Union, the United Kingdom, the Western Balkans and Turkey.
Among the 83 cities covered by the study, Braga is among the 10 in which residents feel most satisfied living there, and is also among the 10 best cities in Europe for immigrants, the elderly and families with children.
In terms of mobility, Braga, with 70% of residents, tops the ranking of the 10 European cities where inhabitants use their cars the most on a normal day, while on average 48% of residents in the other cities studied use their cars.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the mayor of Braga, Ricardo Rio, expressed his satisfaction with the report’s conclusions, which reflect the opinions of the people of Braga.
“As this is a study by the European Commission, I’m pleased to see such a significant number of people from Braga who are happy to live in the city, who are happy with the quality of life. In addition, they feel that the city has improved over the last five years, particularly in terms of quality of life for the elderly and families,” said the Social Democrat mayor.
On the opposite side is the issue of mobility, where Braga leads the ranking of cities that use cars the most.
“It was the only ranking I didn’t want to lead. We have the highest percentage of all the cities studied that normally use cars. It’s one of the main challenges we face today, which is mobility. It also reflects the growth of the city, but it is one of the priorities for intervention in public management,” said Ricardo Rio.
Braga is also on the list of the 10 European cities where residents (27%) use public transport the least on a daily basis. Only Skopje (28%), the capital of Macedonia, Heraklion (30%) in Greece and Verona (30%) in Italy are worse than Braga.
As for housing, the city is also not one of the 10 in which residents consider it easy to find a house at a reasonable price.
In this regard, the European Commission makes a comparison with the data collected in 2019, concluding that the percentage of residents with a positive view of housing fell by an average of four percentage points (PP), from 38% to 34%, with the biggest drop occurring in cities with up to 250,000 inhabitants.
Over the four years, according to the report, Braga is the second city in Europe where there has been the biggest drop (14 PP) in residents’ views and perceptions of finding affordable housing, surpassed only by Budapest, the Hungarian capital, where the positive view of housing fell by 18 percentage points.
In the first section, “Satisfied living in the city”, the top 10 is led by Zurich (Switzerland), with 97% of residents satisfied, followed by Copenhagen (Denmark), Groningen (Netherlands), Gdansk (Poland), Leipzig (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), Geneva (Switzerland), Rostock (Germany), Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and Braga, with 94% satisfaction among residents.
Braga (89%) is also among the 10 best cities in Europe for immigrants, coming third in a ranking led by Cardiff (95%) (United Kingdom) followed by Lisbon (90%).
As for European cities that are good places for older people to live, Zurich once again leads the way, with 95% of respondents choosing the Swiss city, while Braga closes out the top 10, with 91% of the votes cast by the residents surveyed.
The ranking of the 10 best European cities for families with children is led by Cardiff (96%), followed by Oulu (Finland), Braga and Leipzig, all with 95% of residents’ votes.
In the chapter entitled “Safe and Cohesive City”, Braga is also on the list of the 10 European cities where residents feel safest walking at night (84%), led by Copenhagen (87%).