THE URBAN AUDIT
Towards the Benchmarking of Quality of Life in
58 European Cities
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The Yearbook
• Overview
•
•

Comparative Section
The Urban Audit is supported by the European Commission. It is aimed at improving comparative information on
urban areas. The Urban Audit was supervised by Marcello Roma and Mireille Grubert of Directorate General for
Regional Policies and Gilles Durand and Berthold Feldman of Eurostat.

urban Yearbook. The advice and feedback will be used however, to inform the future plans of the Urban Audit.

The results of the pilot phase are, we hope, of immediate interest to city authorities and citizens alike. However,
the value of the information brought together in the pilot phase of the Urban Audit will be much increased if steps
are taken to fill the gaps, to update the information, to increase the number of participating cities, to improve the
richness of the information in particular domains, and to ensure easy and wide access to the detailed information.
The European Commission proposes to continue to work with the cities to this end.

The Urban Audit has been directed and managed by Directorate General REGIO, Regional Policy, unit A.1 and
Eurostat. Other Directorates of the European Commission have advised on aspects of the work. The urban
Yearbook and other products have been prepared by a team of consultants and researchers brought together
under the umbrella of ERECO for the Urban Audit pilot phase. The opinions expressed in the Urban Audit
products are not necessarily those of the European Commission.

The results of the Urban Audit pilot phase are published in three Volumes.
Volume I provides the first part of the Yearbook with an overview of the results and brief analyses of the apparent
differences in results between different types of cities and emerging trends. Volume I also presents the main
results in a series of comparative tables so that findings may be compared between cities and with the results at
the Conurbation/Wider Territorial Unit and national levels.
Volume II, which is the second part of the Yearbook, presents the summary results for each of the 58 cities. The
presentation of findings allows the reader to see how a particular city compares with the other Urban Audit cities
and, if appropriate, the variation between scores at the city and Conurbation/Wider Territorial Unit level.
Volume III presents the Urban Audit Manual, which allows readers to appreciate in detail the way in which the
information was collected and compiled during the pilot phase of the Urban Audit.Yearbook
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In addition to this publication, the pilot phase of the Urban Audit generated several other outputs, which are
publicly available. Namely:

16

1. Population ……………………………………………………………………………………. 18
2. Nationality ……………………………………………………………………………………. 19
3. Household structure ………………………………………………………………………… 20
4. Labour market and Unemployment ……………………………………………………… 22
5. Income, disparities and poverty ……………………………………………………………. 24
6. Housing ………………………………………………………………………………………. 25
7. Health…………………………………………………………………………………………. 26
8. Crime …………………………………………………………………………………………. 27
9. Employment …………………………………………………………………………………. 28
10. Economic activity …………………………………………………………………………… 29
11. Civic involvement …………………………………………………………………………… 31
12. Education and Training Provision ………………………………………………………… 32
13. Level of educational qualifications …………………………………………………………. 33
14. Air quality and Noise ………………………………………………………………………… 34
15. Water ……………………………………………………………………………………… 35
16. Waste management ……………………………………………………………………… 36
17. Land use ……………………………………………………………………………………. 37
18. Travel patterns …………………………………………………………………………… 38
19. Energy use ………………………………………………………………………………… 40
20. Climate/geography ………………………………………………………………………… 41
21. Culture and recreation ………………………………………………………………………. 42
Subcity variations ………………………………………………………………………………… 43
• Annex 1 Detailed results of analysis informing the Overview ………………………… ……………
45
•

Annex 2 Methodological aspects
………………………………………………………………………

82
• Socio-economic aspects ………………………………………………………………………………
84

1 Population ………………………………………………………………………………………… 84
1.1 Population and change ………………………………………………………………………. 84
1.2 Population Age Structure ……………………………………………………………………. 87

2 Nationality
…………………………………………………………………………………………
90
3 Household Structure ………………………………………………………………………………. 93
Yearbook
4
4 Labour market and Unemployment ……………………………………………………………… 96
4.1 Activity …………………………………………………………………………………………. 96

4.2 Unemployment
…………………………………………………………………………….…
99
5 Income, Disparities and Poverty ……………………………………………………………… 102
5.1 Household Income and Disparities …………………………………………………………. 103
5.2 Poverty ………………………………………………………………………………………… 105

6 Housing
………………………………………………………………………………………….…
108
6.1 Type of Housing ………………………………………………………………………….… 108
6.2 Type of Tenure ……………………………………………………………………………… 110
6.3 Housing Costs ………………………………………………………………………………… 113

18 Travel Patterns ……………………………………………………………………………… …… 155
19 Energy Use ………………………………………………………………………………… …… 158

20 Climate
……………………………………………………………………………………… …….
161
• Culture and Recreation ………………………………………… ……………………………….…….
163

21 Culture and Recreation ……………………………………………………………………… … 163
21.1 Music and cinema ………………………………………………………………………… 163
21.2 Museum, Theatre and Libraries …………………………………………………………… 166
21.3 Sports ………………………………………………………………………………………… 169
• Sub-City variations ……………………………………………………………………………………… 172

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and, in the future, providing an assessment of the impact of urban policies on the development of urban areas.

Second, in parallel with this approach, EUROSTAT, in co-operation with national statistical institutes, would
process the ‘local’ level information on cities and urban agglomerations and harmonize information systems and
definitions.

The subsequent Commission Communication ‘Sustainable Urban Development in the European Union: A
Framework for Action’ published in October 1998 and debated at the European Urban Forum in Vienna, November
1998, also identified, as one of 24 actions ‘Improving Comparative Information on Urban Conditions’.

City Coverage

The 58 cities included in the Urban Audit pilot phase were identified by the European Commission on a systematic
and objective basis. The largest cities (by population size within their administrative boundaries) within the EU
member states have been included. The main exceptions to this principle are: the exclusion because of their large
scale of London and Paris; and, in order to ensure a good geographical spread across the EU and to cover a
significant percentage of the population in each country, some cities from the smaller EU countries were included
even though they have smaller populations than some of those cities not included from the larger countries.

Yearbook: Overview
8
POPULATION OF URBAN AUDIT CITIES, CONURBATIONS AND WTU AND NUMBER OF SUB-CITY AREAS
CITIES CONURBATIONS WTU SUB-CITY
COUNTRY Population
(1996)
Conurbations
1
Corresponding
population
Wider territorial

Communes)
950597
(1997)
19
Denmark
Copenhagen 476751 Copenhagen 1172884 15
Spain
Madrid 2866693 Madrid 4404398 21
Barcelona 1508805 Barcelona 2904941 38
Valencia 746683 Valencia 1344436 38
Seville 697485 Seville 983662 12
Zaragoza 601674 24
Malaga 549135 17
Finland
Helsinki 532053 Helsinki 905555 33
France
Marseilles 799849
(1990)
Marseilles :
Urban
Community, 16
communes
962634 215
Lyon 414000 Lyon : Urban
Community, 55
communes
1134693 126
Toulouse 358290
(1990)
Toulouse 495431 47

Conurbations
1
Corresponding
population
Wider territorial
units
1
Corresponding
population
Number of
Sub-city
areas (within
city level)
Lille 172138
(1990)
Lille : Urban
Community, 86
communes
1067761 24
Greece
Athens 772072
(1991)
Athens 3481995 7
Thessaloniki 383967
(1991)
5
Patras 153344
(1991)
3
Italy

(1997)
33
Glasgow 611660
(1997)
Glasgow 2266564 (1991) 96
Bradford 482859 28
Liverpool 463708
(1997)
Liverpool 1413441 33
Edinburgh 450000
(1997)
64
Manchester 427693
(1997)
Manchester 2571849 66
Cardiff 318282
(1997)
23
Sweden Stockholm 718462 Stockholm 1197713 48
Göteborg 454016 42
Total (cities)
58 7 20
Sub city areas
Total
Population
City Level: 46.2 million City with WTU/Conurbation areas: 70 million 2500
Yearbook: Overview
10

The combined population of the 58 cities (at the city administrative level) is 42.6 million. Taking into account the

1996).
- Where appropriate, comparable information at the national level was collected. This process assists the
interpretation of results in that Urban Audit users can better judge the extent to which differences in indicator
scores between the 58 cities are a consequence of national differences.

During the Urban Audit pilot phase, a methodology was developed for collecting information to inform these
indicators. All available information sources at national, regional and local levels have been investigated and
where appropriate used. Account has been taken of the variety of data sources and definitions used in different
contexts so that useful comparisons can be made.

2
These had been informed by the study ‘L’offre et la demande en matière de statistiques urbaines’, Michel Poulain, EUROSTAT Working Papers, March 1997.Yearbook: Overview
11
URBAN AUDIT INDICATORS
Quality of life
domains
Indicators
I SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS
1. Population Total population with distribution by sex and age (13 age groups)
Total population change (by sex and age)
Percentage of the Population aged below 16 and above the national retirement age - Demographic Dependency Index.
2. Nationality Nationals as a proportion of total population
Other EU nationals as a proportion of total population
Non-EU nationals as a proportion of total population
3. Household structure Total number of households
Average size of Households
Percentage of households that are one person households

Percentage of households living in houses
Percentage of households living in apartments
Percentage of households living in "other" dwellings
Life expectancy at birth for males and females
Infant mortality rate: 0-1 year per 1000 births
Low birth rate : Number of children born weighing less than 2.5 kg (or national definition of low birth weight) per1000 births
7. Health
Mortality rate for individuals under 65 from heart diseases and respiratory illness
Yearbook: Overview
12
URBAN AUDIT INDICATORS
Quality of life
domains
Indicators
8. Crime Total number of recorded crimes per1000 population per year
Recorded crimes against people per 1000 population per year
Recorded crimes against commercial and residential properties per 1000 population per year
Recorded crimes against cars (including thefts of and from vehicles) per 1000 population per year
9. Employment Employment by sector-male/female, part time/full time, by sector (Nace Rev.1)
Percentage change in employment
GDP per capita at city level (if available) or at the regional level10. Economic activity
Number of companies with headquarters in the city quoted on the national stock market
Net level of business registrations (new registrations minus deregistrations per year)
Proportion of net office space that is vacant
Number of tourist overnight stays in registered accommodation per year
Number of air passengers
II CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
Percentage of registered electorate voting in European, national and city Elections. For each of the last three European
Parliament Elections; and for each of the last three national elections; for each of the city elections (nearest dates to the last
three national elections)

Percentage of the resident population – male/female – who have completed tertiary education (second stage) leading to a post-
graduate university degree or equivalent (ISCED level 7)
Yearbook: Overview
13
URBAN AUDIT INDICATORS
Quality of life
domains
Indicators
IV ENVIRONMENT
14. Air Quality and Noise Winter Smog: Number of days SO2 exceeds 125µg/m3 (24 hour averaging time)
Summer Smog: Number of days Ozone O3 exceeds 120µg/m3 (8 hour averaging time)
Number of days per year that NO2 concentrations exceed 200mg/m3 (1 hour averaging time)
Proportion of the population exposed to outdoor noise levels above 65 db (24 hour averaging time)
Number of determinations (total number of annual tests on all parameters
on drinking water quality) which exceed the prescribed values, as specified in the Directive 80/778/EEC - 'Directive relating to
the quality of water intended for human consumption'
Consumption of water (cubic metres per annum) per inhabitant
15. Water
Percentage of dwellings connected to potable drinking water supply Infrastructure
Percentage of dwellings connected to the sewerage treatment systems
16. Waste management
Amount of solid waste collected within the boundary (domestic and commercial) tonnes per capita per annum
Proportion of solid waste (domestic and commercial) arising within the boundary processed by landfill, incinerator, recycled
Green space to which the public has access (sq meters per capita ) Percentage of the population within 15 minutes walking
distance of urban green areas
Percentage of the urban area unused and in main land uses
Percentage of the urban area subject to special physical planning /conservation measures
17. Land use
Population density -total resident population per square km
Mode of journey to work : rail/metro, bus, tram, car, cycle, walking

58 participating cities. For 27 cities, information has also been collected at the Wider Territorial Unit or Conurbation
level. Whenever possible in all cities, information has also been compiled at the sub-city level.

City and Conurbation level

The primary focus of the Urban Audit has been on the “city level” as defined by the main administrative areas under
the jurisdiction of an elected body and on the conurbation where the urban area has its own administrative entity.

Wider Territorial Units (WTU)

In order to facilitate possible comparisons, where “local authority areas adjoining a city partake significantly in the
life of the city” (Terms of Reference), a Wider Territorial Unit comprising a combination of administrative areas was
identified.

The general approach used to define the 20 WTU was that the wider areas should fulfil either of the two criteria
below :

That the administrative areas each contiguous with the city administrative level have a population density equal to
or greater than 500 persons per square kilometre;

That the proposed group of administrative areas corresponds to a build-up area with less than 200 metres between
two built units.

Furthermore the total populations of the city and administrative areas within the WTU were at least 50% greater
than the population of the city.

Sub-City Level

For a small number of indicators, mainly those concerning socio-economic aspects, indicator scores have been
calculated for a total of 2500 sub-divisions of the cities. The main purpose of the sub-city analysis is to estimate

The wide variety of variables for which information was sought, the three points in time and three different spatial
levels posed a major challenge. However, for most indicators, the information was obtained for the majority of
cities. Furthermore, at least one city had sufficient information to complete in its entirety the information requested
in each domain. Only the domains of energy and travel patterns stand out as having been particularly difficult to
complete. The lack of information on household income is also disappointing.

There are many issues of definitions that limit cross-national comparability and the confidence with which
generalisations can be drawn. However, taken as a whole, the Urban Audit pilot phase has demonstrated the
strong potential that exists for European comparative urban information.
Yearbook: Overview
16
Key Findings
The philosophy of the urban Yearbook is that it should present information in an objective but comprehensible manner so
that the figures can “speak for themselves”. Thus readers of the urban Yearbook can use the information to inform their
interpretation of the situation affecting EU cities in general and the comparative position of particular cities. To assist this
process the broad findings of the Urban Audit are reviewed below for each domain and for the sub-city level analysis.

In the review of key findings, the cities have been classified:
- by size at city level in three categories (above 1 million, above 500,000, below 500,000 inhabitants)
- by geographic location: northern and southern,
- by geographic location: central and peripheral, and
- by capital and non capital cities.
The table below presents the cities within each category.

Size of the City Geographical location
Large
Above 1 million
Medium
(Above 500,000)
Small

Liverpool Turin
Edinburgh Genoa
Manchester Florence
Cardiff Luxembourg
Stockholm Amsterdam
Gothenburg Rotterdam
Birmingham
Leeds
Bradford
Liverpool
Manchester
Cardiff
Yearbook: Overview
17
The following paragraphs are based upon information presented in Annex 1 to the overview and in the comparative
section. The comparative tables give scores and averages based upon the latest year for which information is
available in each city (i.e. 1996 or near equivalent, or 1991 or near equivalent). The information in Annex 1 gives
averages for 1996 or near equivalent, as well as averages for 1991 and for 1981.
For each domain, the main variations in the average scores on selected indicators of cities grouped within different
categories (size of the city, geographical location, capital/non capital) using available data at the city level for 1996
or near equivalent are presented.
Where appropriate ordinal (higher/lower/same) comparisons are also made between the city and conurbation/wider
territorial unit level scores and those at the national level. Again 1996 or near equivalent year are used.
The trends over time in indicator scores are illustrated in two ways. First, for selected indicators, the average score
for cities for which information is available is given for three points in time 1996 (or near equivalent year), 1991 and
1981. As the cases for which information is available vary between the years these results need to be viewed with
caution. Second, for each city and conurbation/ wider territorial unit, for which data are available for more than one
point in time, the proportion of cases with each direction of change (increasing, decreasing, stable) has been
calculated. The information used to determine the direction of change for each case is the difference between
scores for the longest period over which information is available. In any case, the findings on changes over time

22.4
1981 1996 or latest

Wider Territorial Unit/ Conurbation
City Level
39.5 39.5

The trends in population over the last two decades indicate stable levels of population within the boundaries of the
cities with similar numbers of cities experiencing growth and decline. However, much of the decline in cities
population that characterised the nineteen eighties has been arrested and the populations within the wider urban
areas of which the cities form part have, in most cases, grown.
Urban Audit city populations are relatively young but the number of elderly is increasingPopulation age structure in Urban Audit
cities (1996 or latest)
17.1%
13.5%
53.2%
16.4%
0-15 16-24 25-64 Retirement
age and
over
Age
group

Proportion of resident population
less than 16 years old and above
retirement age
33.3

92.6
89.6
92.2
1981 1991 1996
%
Around 90% of the Urban Audit cities resident population are nationals. The proportions range widely and are
normally higher at the WTU/Conurbation level. Compared with the national level, nearly all cities have lower
proportions of nationals than the countries as a whole. The proportions of nationals are typically higher in
southern, peripheral and non capital cities. Nearly 84% of cities have experienced a decline in the proportion of
nationals.
Other EU nationals

Of the non-national population, around one third are from other
European Union countries and two thirds are non-EU nationals.
The proportions of other EU nationals are higher at the city level
and in small, northern and central cities. Over three fifths of the
cities have higher proportions of other EU nationals than the
countries in which they are located.
Proportion of other EU
nationals
3.7
3.9
2.9
1981 1991 1996
%
Non-EU nationals
The majority of non nationals are from outside the European Union.
The proportion of non-EU nationals are higher at the city level in
large, northern and central cities. In more than four fifths of the
cities, the proportion of non-EU nationals are higher than in

2.8
2.5
1981 1991 1996
persons
One person households

The Urban Audit cities have more one person households compared with national level.

Household Structure (1996)
38.1%
14.7%
7.5%
One person
households
Lone
pensioner
households
Lone parent
households

Proportion of one person households
38.1
26.7
33.9
1981 1991 1996
%
Over a third of all households are ‘one person households’. The proportion is higher at the city than
WTU/Conurbation level and amongst northern, central and capital cities. All of cities have proportionally more one
person households than their countries as a whole. The proportion has increased in all cities.


households than at national level. At the city level, 84% of cities
have experienced an increase in the proportion of lone parent
households.

Proportion of lone parent
households
7.5
6.5
7.6
1981 1991 1996
%

Yearbook: Overview
22

4. Labour Market and Unemployment

Levels of activity

More people, especially women are in work or seeking work especially in northern cities, but unemployment is
increasing.Just over two thirds of the population of working age in Urban
Audit cities are in work or seeking work. The proportions are
lower in southern cities. Half of the cities have higher activity
rates than the national levels and the majority higher activity
rates than in 1981. (Activity rate is the number in work or
seeking work as a proportion of the population of working age).


Around three fifths of the Urban Audit city level working age
populations are in work. The proportion is lower in southern and
peripheral cities. The proportion has declined in more cities than
it has increased although the average levels have increased
between 1981 and 1996.

Proportion of population of
working age in employment
59.2
56.9
57.4
1981 1991 1996
%

Yearbook: Overview
23

Unemployment
Urban Audit Cities bear the brunt of unemployment, and long term unemployment, but fewer young people are out
of work than at the national level.
Unemployment averages over 8% and is higher in the
medium sized cities, in southern cities and capitals. In nearly
two thirds of cities, it is higher at the city than at national
levels. For the WTU/Conurbation level, three quarters have
higher unemployment rates than the national level. In three
quarters of cities, the rate has increased over the last two
decades.
Unemployment rate
8.3
7.2

proportions are lower than for the countries as a whole. In
almost all cities, the proportion of unemployed who are
under 25 has decreased over the last two decades.

Proportion of unemployed who are
under 25 years
19.7
38.4
25.3
1981 1991 1996
%