In Italy and in the US, someday the land planners will realize that "cluster" construction is the way to raise Quality of Life, and eliminate "urban sprawl".

Business in Italy
Agenzia Giornalistic Italia (AGI)
On behalf of the Italian Prime Minister's office
Rome, Dec. 4, 2004

One Italian out of two suffers from "city-sickness", a discomfort deriving from living in a big urban centre. The most under stress of downtown life are adults with a low level of school education.

Naples is the city suffering most, followed by Bari, Palermo and Rome.

These are, briefly summarized, the results of a study carried out by IPR Marketing on behalf of Legambiente and the newspaper "Il Sole 24 Ore", on the stress of life in cities.

The study was presented in Pisa during a convention on the report "Ecosistema Urbano 2005" with the participation, amongst others, of Roberto Della Seta, National President of Legambiente, Altero Matteoli, Minister of the Environment, Ermete Realacci, Honorary President of Legambiente and Paolo Costa, delegate of the Ulivo (left wing) elected in Pisa.

   - STRESS: 51 pct of inhabitants interviewed in big Italian cities (Milan, Turin, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bari, Palermo and Cagliari) declared to feel very or sufficiently under stress living in a city. Nearly 58 pct. talked about increasing stress during the last 3 to 4 years. 1 out of 4 has thought about moving. Those suffering most are men (54 pct. declares to be very or sufficiently under stress, compared to 49 pct. of women), adults (54 pct. compared to 53 pct. of young people and 48 pct. of elderly people) and people with a low level of school education (52 pct. of those with inferior education compared to 49 pct of those with university degree).

   - TRAFFIC THREATENS MORE THAN TERRORISM: people are more afraid of traffic than of terrorism, more concerned about queues in public offices than about petty crime. 80 pct. of inhabitants of big Italian cities are afraid of and suffer from never ending traffic jams. Only 40 pct. declared to be worried about the risk of terrorist attacks. Queues in public offices (a suffering for 68 pct. of the interviewed) cause more anxiety than petty crime (62 pct.); pollution (61 pct.) and noise (59 pct.) are more decisive than loneliness (25 pct.).

   - CITIES UNDER STRESS: Naples, according to the outcome of the Legambiente/Sole 24 Ore study carried out by IPR Marketing, is the capital of stress. In fact, 3 out of 4 citizens (74 pct.) resulted to be under stress. To follow Bari (61 pct.), Rome and Palermo (54 pct.) and Milan (52 pct.). Those suffering less from city life are Venetians: only 1 out of 3 stated to be under high or sufficient stress, followed by Cagliari (32 pct.) and Turin (34 pct.).

   - ESCAPE FROM CITIES: the desire to escape from the city is directly connected to discomfort. In Naples nearly 1 out of 2 inhabitants considers to escape (44 pct.), in Palermo it is 1 out of 3 (33 pct.).

   Finally, inhabitants of Naples and Rome are those mostly terrorised by traffic (86 pct.) and smog (72 pct. and 70 pct. respectively), as well as they are mostly suffering from queues and delays in public offices (79 pct. in Rome and 78 pct. in Naples).

   Neapolitans, as we know from news reports, are those most concerned about petty crime (80 pct.), followed by the inhabitants of Turin (74 pct.), who also fear terrorist attacks (52 pct.). Milan is the city with loneliness at the first place of fears (30 pct.).
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Agenzia Giornalistica Italia - News In English
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