The effects of covid on quality of life: Rome moves up 26 positions while cities in Northern Italy collapse.

Italia Oggi and La Sapienza University of Rome have released their annual ranking on the quality of life in the Italian provinces.  The cities of Northern Italy have ranked lower than last year, while the Italian Capital jumps forward and gains 26 positions.  The effects of the coronavirus pandemic weigh heavily on the results of this year’s survey. 

Also read: Paris and Zurich are the cities with the highest cost of living in the world

Cities in the regions most affected by covid during the first wave of last spring, have sings of collapse in various indicators used for the survey, especially with regard to social policies. 

Pordenone is at the top of the general classification, above Trento.  Venice is third. Rome is in 50th place, but in 2019 it was 76th.  A surprising leap forward, especially in the category of "security and social" where the Capital has moved from 55th to fifth place.  It gets worse ratings on the waste and public transport front, in line with another recent survey by the European Commission.  For the first category, garbage, it drops from 80th to 85th place. 

The effect of covid, however, is clear in the decline of northern cities.  Bergamo has dropped from 26th place last year to 40th place this year.  Lodi moves down 37 positions, Milan 16, Piacenza by 41, Cremona, even by 46. 

"The methodology used in the research seems to have been able to be recognized immediately, at least the direct effects of the pandemic" explains Italia Oggi.  "Of course, not all indirect effects, such as those on income, which will be captured by official statistics only after a few years".

Ph: Catarina Belova / Shutterstock.com