The 2018 Quality of Life ranking leaves little room for doubt – living in the centre of a small Italian city gives added value from many different points of view. This analysis, produced by Italy Oggi and The Sapienza University of Rome, crowns Bolzano as the best province to live in Italy, followed by Trento and Belluno. Rome has fallen 18 positions this year, while at the bottom end of the ranking are Vibo Valentia, Catania, Syracuse, Naples and Palermo.
Bolzano
All 110 Italian provinces were analysed by the annual report, now in its twentieth edition. The results highlight a marked difference between different geographical areas of Italy. The northeast in general gets a positive rating and, on average, cities with about 100 thousand inhabitants "function" better.
Trento
In the top 40 positions, in fact, only Verona and Padua have a population of over 200,000 inhabitants, while Brescia, Parma, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Bergamo, Trento, Forlì, Vicenza, Bolzano and Piacenza have over 100 thousand. All the other 28 places have fewer inhabitants.
Belluno
The study looks at nine parameters: business and work, environment, crime, social and personal life, population, financial and educational services, health system, leisure time and standard of living, with 21 subcategories and 84 basic indicators.
Siena
The top three positions stayed the same as last year, with Bolzano, Trento and Belluno all standing on the podium of the ranking of the Italian provinces with the best quality of life in 2017.
Pordenone
The trend of the big cities is a counterpoint, however. Besides Rome, which had the largest drop from 67th to 85th place, the smaller cities of Florence (from 37th to 54th) and Venice both went down. Meanwhile, only Milan gained positions (from 57th to 55th) and comes right in the middle of the ranking.
Parma
However, the overall trend for 2018 is one of substantial improvement. In 59 Italian provinces, out of a total of 110, the quality of life was good or acceptable, compared to 56 in 2016 and 2017. This figure is, in fact, the best achieved in the last five years. And while the situation in the Northwest and the South remains the same, the Northeast and the Centre (without considering the capital) are clearly improving.
Aosta
In general, the best results were achieved in small towns. So much so that in the top ten there are even cities like Siena (this year 4th and one year ago 11th), Pordenone, Parma, Aosta, Sondrio, Treviso, Cuneo.
Sondrio
According to the report, Treviso is the safest province in Italy, while Trento, Bolzano and Bologna are the most profitable cities for business and work. Parma, Siena, Trento and Piacenza have the best financial and educational services in Italy.
Treviso
Isernia, Pisa, Ancona, Siena and Milan offer the most efficient health system in all of Italy. In last place in the Italian health sector is Calabria with Vibo Valentia, at the end of the ranking alongside Catania, Naples, Syracuse and Palermo.
Cuneo
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