ROME (ITALPRESS) – The 35th edition of Sole 24 Ore’s Quality of Life, a survey launched in 1990 to measure the levels of well-being in Italian territories and whose results of the 35th edition are presented today in the pages of the newspaper, marks the victory of the province of Bergamo: never before awarded in the overall ranking, but already crowned queen of the 2024 Sportsmanship Index, the Orobic province had already climbed several positions in 2023 and this year it undermined podium regulars such as Trento, in second place, and Bolzano, in third. In last place is Reggio Calabria, the black jersey in a ranking that sees the last 25 positions all occupied by provinces in the south of Italy.
The survey photographs well-being in Italian provinces with 90 indicators divided into six categories: wealth and consumption; business and labor; environment and services; demographics, society and health; justice and security; and culture and leisure.
The top 10 ranking mirrors a country in which large cities are beginning to show several fragilities: the only one present is Bologna, in ninth place, down six places from the 2023 edition. Otherwise, medium-sized provinces triumph: Monza and Brianza (4th place), followed by Cremona and Udine, last year’s winner, Verona and Vicenza. Closing in, after Bologna, is Ascoli Piceno.
The northeastern side wins, with three provinces from Lombardy, the two autonomous provinces of Trentino Alto Adige, two from Veneto, one from Emilia and one from Marche.
Metropolitan cities record a widespread slump: Bologna drops 7 positions, Milan 4 moving to 12th place, Florence (36th place) marks -30 after being in the top 10 area for three consecutive years, and Rome drops -24 positions plummeting to 59th place. Turin loses 22 positions, coming in 58th place just ahead of the capital. Naples is second to last, while Bari is among the few to rise: a 4-position increase brings it to 65th place.
In comparison with last year, the large metropolitan areas discount both the presence of some newly introduced indicators such as income inequality and the monthly salaries needed to buy a house, both of which are included in the Wealth and Consumption category. But also some data testifying, for example, to the end of the run of GDP per capita: the figure, compared to 2023, rises more in the South.
The stage rankings confirm six: Biella wins in Wealth and Consumption; Milan maintains its leadership in Business and Labor; Brescia is first in Environment and Services; Bolzano leads in Demographics, Health and Society; Ascoli Piceno leads in Justice and Security; and Trieste is best for Culture and Leisure.
A separate mention goes to Florence, which wins the fourth edition of the Women’s Quality of Life, a synthetic index based on 12 parameters (Employment rate, Women’s businesses, women administrators of companies and local entries, share of university graduates, among others) that then goes into the overall ranking, in the category Demography, health and society.
The ranking is an average of averages calculated on 90 indicators from certified sources (Istat, Bank of Italy, Tagliacarne Institute, Infocamere and many others), on a provincial basis and related to resident population, divided into six categories: wealth and consumption; business and labor; environment and services; demography, health and society; justice and security; and culture and leisure. The goal is to represent such a multifaceted concept as Quality of Life by investigating its various aspects. Also part of the 90 indicators are ten synthetic indices that were published in Il Sole 24 Ore over the course of the year: the Climate Index, the three Generational Indices (Quality of Life of the Elderly, Young People, and Children); the Sportsmanship Index; the Crime Index; Urban Ecosystem; the Territory Fragility Index; Icity Rank; and the Women’s Quality of Life Index.
Some indicators have remained the same as in previous editions: from bank deposits to recycling collection, via Aire members and the number of bookstores. Others, a total of 27, are newly introduced: the risks of landslides and floods, the monthly salaries needed to buy a house, and homicides. The survey, which debuted in 1990, is renewed each year by giving space to indicators that can best tell the story of the evolution of society and territories.
New this year is a project, developed in collaboration with the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (Asvis), created to analyze Quality of Life indicators across the board to explore the implementation on the ground of the largest program of action at the global level, that of the UN’s Agenda 2030, aimed at managing the planet’s major challenges, such as extreme poverty, climate change, environmental degradation and health crises.
The analysis traces the 90 indicators, and more (more than 120 parameters are included in all on a provincial basis), to 15 of the Agenda’s 17 Goals. What emerges is a fresco of the territories that, based on these parameters, come closest to the Goals represented. The project has eleven rankings, developed using the same methodology as Quality of Life after grouping indicators according to the Goals: each ranking returns territorial gaps in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Interesting case photographs emerged: Bologna comes the closest to achieving the Goal on “Quality Education,” which, among other targets, aims to reduce early exit from the education and training system below the 9 percent rate (only 19 percent have less than a third-grade degree between the ages of 25 and 49) or to reach the 50 percent share of college graduates (which already exceeds 46 percent between the ages of 25 and 39). Milan, on the other hand, stands out in Goal 8 “Decent work and economic growth,” which, among other goals, aims to reach the 78 percent employment rate by 2030 (here the rate is already 76.5 percent). Verbano-Cusio Ossola, La Spezia and Varese stand out in Goal 11 on “Sustainable Cities and Communities” and Oristano in Goal 16 on “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” mainly due to its low rate of reported crime.
– IPA Agency Photos –
(ITALPRESS).
