È Bergamo the Italian city where one lives best. This emerges from the survey on quality of life conducted by Sole 24 Ore, which measures well-being in Italian territories through 90 indicators from certified sources, divided into six thematic categories: wealth and consumption, business and work, environment and services, demography, society and health, justice and security, culture and free time. An award that underlines the excellence of the Lombard city, but which, at the same time, highlights a varied panorama throughout Italy, with a strong gap between North and South.
The North East among the most awarded territories for quality of life
Behind Bergamo, the podium is completed with Trento e Bolzano, respectively in second and third place. The big surprise comes from the South Tyrolean city of Bolzano, which makes a significant leap forward, going from thirteenth place in 2023 to third this year, a jump of ten positions. This success is part of a positive trend that involves much of the North East, where Trentino-Alto Adige and Veneto dominate the ranking. In Lombardy, Monza and Brianza is in fourth place, closely followed by Cremona to the fifth. Udine, winner of the previous edition, confirms a solid performance, maintaining prominent positions (sixth place) also in this edition, while Verona e Vicenza they rank seventh and eighth respectively, demonstrating the strength of the North East in this well-being index.
Disappointing results in the South, with few exceptions
Unfortunately, Southern Italy continues to record disappointing results. Reggio Calabria wins the black jersey, last in 107th place, while Napoli is positioned immediately ahead, in the penultimate position. In the third-last position is Crotone. Starting from the 83rd position, a series of metropolitan cities and southern territories begin to appear that occupy the last positions of the ranking, including Catania (83), Messina (91), Palermo (100), together with less urbanized areas such as Southern Sardinia (93), the provinces of Enna (97) and Cosenza (102). A picture that reflects the persistent difficulty of many areas of the South in terms of quality of life. Among the best cities in the South are Bari (65th place) and Lecce (72nd place).
The last positions in the ranking reflect the difficulties of the South:
- Palermo (100th, -5 places compared to last year)
- Caserta (101st, – 3 places)
- Cosenza (102nd, stable)
- Vibo Valentia (103rd with -7 positions)
- Syracuse (104th, stable)
- Crotone (105th, – 2 positions)
- Naples (106th, -1 position)
- Reggio Calabria (last, – 6 positions).
The decline of metropolitan cities
Metropolitan cities, always a symbol of dynamism and development, are seeing a worrying decline. Milan, for example, drops four positions and is ranked 12th, while Bologna suffers a loss of seven positions. Florence, which had been part of the top 10 for three consecutive years, suffered a vertical collapse, falling to 36th place, with a loss of 30 positions. Rome, for its part, recorded a drop of 24 positions, arriving at 59th place. Turin, finally, lost 22 positions and placed itself in 58th place, immediately ahead of the Capital. A trend that seems to indicate the difficulty of large cities to maintain high levels of well-being, while remaining important economic and cultural centers.
