This year, the inhabitants of the northern Italian city of Trento can say they live in the best province in Italy for quality of life - at least according to the latest survey compiled by ItaliaOggi and Rome's La Sapienza University.
Now in its 24th year, this is among the most respected of several annual quality of life surveys conducted in Italy.
Trento took the top spot from last year’s winner Parma, which now ranks seventh.
Trento’s neighbour Bolzano was in second place, and the top five was completed by the cities of Bologna, Florence and Milan.
Rome was in 53rd place, followed by Turin in 54th.
Venice ranked 22nd, while southern capital Naples was fourth from bottom in 104th place.
The rankings are based on factors including employment opportunities, standards in health and education, crime levels, leisure facilities, social security and environment.
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This year, as well as last, the study also took into account how different areas handled the Covid-19 health emergency.
While such studies consistently show a clear north-south divide, ItaliaOggi notes that this year the gap has widened overall between the wealthier northern cities and provincial capitals and those in the south, which were generally worse off to begin with and had fewer resources available to help offset the impact of the pandemic and financial crisis.
The “growing distance between the two parts of the country” is also demonstrated by the fact that “among the cities that have made leaps forward in the classification (those which have moved up more than ten places), the most southern province is Pesaro and Urbino in the central Marche region, up from 56th to 30th place; all the others are further north,” notes ItaliaOggi.
Examples include Como, which went from 62nd to 32nd place, or Rimini which rose from 61st to 37th.
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While the study does not rank smaller towns and rural areas, it is seen as representative partly as most public services, including local government offices and larger hospitals and healthcare facilities, are generally located in the provincial capital.
Here’s the survey’s complete ranking of all 107 provincial capitals in Italy, from best to worst according to its criteria:
1 Trento
2 Bolzano
3 Bologna
4 Florence
5 Milan
6 Siena
7 Parma
8 Pordenone
9 Trieste
10 Modena
11 Reggio Emilia
12 Cuneo
13 Verona
14 Sondrio
15 Verbano-Cusio-Ossola
16 Treviso
17 Aosta
18 Ancona
19 Pisa
20 Monza and Brianza
21 Bergamo
22 Venice
23 Brescia
24 Belluno
25 Forlì-Cesena
26 Udine
27 Vicenza
28 Ravenna
29 Padova
30 Pesaro and Urbino
31 Mantova
32 Como
33 Varese
34 Cremona
35 Lecco
36 Piacenza
37 Rimini
38 Arezzo
39 Gorizia
40 Biella
41 Lucca
42 Macerata
43 Lodi
44 Fermo
45 Livorno
46 Perugia
47 Ferrara
48 Massa-Carrara
49 Genova
50 Novara
51 Savona
52 Ascoli Piceno
53 Rome
54 Turin
55 Grosseto
56 Terni
57 Pistoia
58 Asti
59 Pavia
60 Prato
61 Rieti
62 Vercelli
63 La Spezia
64 Teramo
65 Pescara
66 L’Aquila
67 Alessandria
68 Chieti
69 Viterbo
70 Rovigo
71 Matera
72 Cagliari
73 Imperia
74 Potenza
75 Isernia
76 Latina
77 Nuoro
78 Frosinone
79 Sassari
80 Bari
81 Campobasso
82 Benevento
83 Avellino
84 Ragusa
85 Brindisi
86 Salerno
87 Catanzaro
88 Lecce
89 Sardinia
90 Barletta-Andria-Trani
91 Oristano
92 Caserta
93 Trapani
94 Cosenza
95 Reggio Calabria
96 Messina
97 Enna
98 Palermo
99 Taranto
100 Vibo Valentia
101 Foggia
102 Catania
103 Agrigento
104 Naples
105 Caltanissetta
106 Siracusa
107 Crotone
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