Gallup's news from Europe
Wanted - young gifted and well-educated!
The recent European Week of Regions and Cities held in Brussels gave Gallup Europe CEO Robert Manchin the opportunity to update policymakers on how European cities are faring in their efforts to attract the brightest talents. Meeting such an objective could be one way for cities to be at the forefront of the EU's drive for prosperity.
Using information from a recent Flash Eurobarometer study (Flash Eurobarometer 194: Urban Audit Perception Survey 2006) and from Gallup Europe's own Soul of the City programme Manchin also looked at the overall levels of satisfaction of Europe's urban dwellers. Looking at cities throughout Europe he defined them as being in four categories as shown in the map below:
Opening his remarks with a look at the bigger picture Manchin argued that the majority of Europe's larger cities such as Madrid Frankfurt and Vienna were now being overshadowed by the world's so-called "mega-cities". Prime examples cited were New York Chicago Los Angeles and Tokyo with Singapore and Sao Paulo edging up the scale. This led Manchin to argue that European cities were gradually dropping down in the Champions League rankings with only London and Paris retaining a truly global function.
Looking at the overall satisfaction results Manchin concluded that a Northwest - Southwest divide had emerged where the former had more cities with a higher proportion of satisfied citizens whereas the Southwest had more cities with lower levels of satisfaction. As proof he cited Madrid Barcelona and Rome where between 11% and 19% of residents were generally satisfied with their city compared to London Berlin Paris and Stockholm where levels of satisfaction were 33% or higher.
Attracting the movers and shakers
Manchin then focused on how cities could successfully attract the young elite ("graduates under 40 working in the creative sector") and here the results were somewhat different. First off these young creatives have different goals; they want to live in a city that is:
- becoming a more pleasant place to live
- attracting people from around the world
- both clean and beautiful
Based on these criteria Berlin Barcelona Rome and London were seen to be attractive to the young elite.
Manchin also highlighted differences between the young elite and the general public. In Rome and Berlin the creative class was seen to be approximately 10 percentage points happier with life. Berlin was also seen by the young elite to be an especially attractive city for both other Germans and for natives of other Member States.
While Dublin received the most positive ratings - by both groups - about job hunting Berlin and Barcelona were the cities where the young elite were twice as likely to say that the cost of housing was reasonable. As for the integration of foreigners within cities the young elites in Barcelona and London were again twice as likely to say that integration was proceeding well.
London received the most positive ratings as to its attractiveness as a creative destination from all respondents whereas all other capitals were favoured most by people already living there. So London is the place to be if you're young well-educated and ... you can afford it.
