Cities Barometer
What do residents in Portugal think about the cities they live in? Which aspects - including mobility, housing, employment or access to public services - do they rate most and least favourably? And what are the public policies they prefer for improving the quality of urban life?
These are among the many questions explored by authors Patrícia Melo, Alexandra Gomes and Eduarda Marques in the 7th edition of Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos’s Barometer series. The «Cities Barometer» looks at the experience of life in the cities, including the conditions people live in, the relationships they established within their communities and the ways in which they engage as citizens.
One of the main findings is that 70% of respondents are satisfied with the city they live in, compared with 86% in European cities, on average. There are differences between groups of cities - residents of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area report the lowest levels of satisfaction (58%), followed by residents of cities in inland Portugal (63%).
Mobility is among the lowest-rated dimensions of urban life. Respondents are particularly dissatisfied with traffic congestion, cycling infrastructure and conditions for pedestrians. The quality and performance of public transport also receive notable levels of dissatisfaction, although with differences between types of cities.
A sense of community, mutual support between neighbours and perceptions of safety are generally positive across cities, but tend to decline as size and population density increase. Civic participation, by contrast, is low, reflecting a limited willingness to engage in local public life.
The Barometer also looks at the public policies that residents value most. There is majority support for redistributive policies, such as expanding access to affordable housing and creating incentives to attract and retain teachers and healthcare professionals in smaller cities. By contrast, residents are less supportive of measures that impose direct costs or restrictions on citizens, particularly in the area of mobility.
