Choose your lifestyle, put up with the consequences

The city, a lifestyle choice

For 66% of city dwellers, living in the city is above all a lifestyle choice. It is a way of being, a distinctive characteristic that people see as reflecting positively on them. This motivation seems to be particularly true of the younger generation.
The 20 to 25 year olds interviewed in New York claim that they would be bored living outside the city.

For a little over one third of the urban population, living in the city is a choice, but a choice that is mainly dictated by family or professional considerations. This perceived constraint affects up to one out of every two people living in Mexico City or London,but fewer than 20% of the population in Beijing, Shanghai and even Berlin.

My city, my choice

People live in the city they live in quite simply because they have chosen to live there. This city rather than any other:
that is what 75% of all city dwellers claim.
A choice made by 81% of people not born in the city where they live and, more symptomatically, by 70% of people who were born in the city where they live.

As if to underscore this position,the young inhabitants of Berlin, New York and Tokyo put forward their city as the example of what the ideal city should be.

"For me, it's a choice. And not just for work. There are so many things to do."
A New Yorker

The battle between passing time and time left

There is little difference between cities in how the average day is spent in a city. Everywhere, people consider "personal" time is insufficient. As a result, all the city dwellers interviewed would like to adjust the balance between their personal and professional lives.

During the week, the city dweller sleeps an average of seven hours a night, spends as many hours at work and at least four hours on personal leisure activities. They spend two hours in transportation, and as many hours again on domestic and administrative tasks.

These time constraints are seen as a hindrance to social and family relations, which are also viewed as too superficial.
This is a core point in the judgment city dwellers pass on their living conditions. A frenetic lifestyle and time governed by external factors: city dwellers are unanimous in wanting more time to themselves.
They would spend it sleeping more, if possible an extra hour - or two for Parisians - working less, on leisure activities, or with family and friends.

Bar a few minor differences, the city dweller's standard working day is fairly similar from one city to another: work leaves little time for personal activities.

Contented overall, underlying dissatisfaction

City dwellers have, therefore, opted to live in a city and have chosen which it is to be. They identify with it, and are even proud of their city.However, they also have to accept the direct constraints, especially with regard to the cost of living and the pace of urban life. As a result, their satisfaction is tempered by frustrations and a degree of resignation.

While the overwhelming majority of city dwellers claim to be satisfied with their city (83%), this assessment varies,of course, from one city to another. People are the most satisfied in Chicago and Sydney. At the opposite end of the scale, the satisfaction rate is markedly lower in Alexandria and Mexico City.

While attached to their city, urban dwellers are,on the other hand, far less satisfied with their living conditions. Just 22% of the sample claim to be "very satisfied."
The breakdown reveals wide variations between cities: it is 40% in Chicago and Sydney, and falls to its lowest ebb in Prague, Shanghai and Beijing (10%).

Also, city dwellers are far from being unanimous in their assessment of their housing and the area where they live. While the majority is satisfied, only one quarter is very satisfied. The most critical on these two points live in Tokyo and Beijing.

Housing absorbs one third of income

Most city dwellers live in an apartment and devote a significant proportion of their income to their home.
This finding is common to all the cities studied, give or take several nuances depending on the geographic region.

Specific to urban life, 53% of city dwellers live in an apartment. One out of three live in a separate house.
The two extremes are Paris and Sydney, where respectively 4% and 61% of the population live in a house.

All cities combined, the average number of homeowners and renters is fairly evenly split at 41% and 43% respectively.
The highest level of home ownership (almost eight out of ten people) is in Shanghai and Beijing (six out of ten people), ahead of Prague, Sydney and Tokyo. The number of renters is higher in Lyon, New York, Paris, Berlin and Los Angeles.

Finally, in the study sample, 16% live free-of-charge at home with their parents or friends. In Alexandria,63% are in this situation; this figure is attributable to the population's youthful age.

On average, housing takes up nearly one third of city dwellers' monthly income, either for mortgage repayments or rent.
This economic fact defines the urban lifestyle, and also affects people's assessment of their living conditions. At 38%, the highest percentage of income devoted to housing is in New York and Los Angeles.

Family life

The average household makeup reveals a clear separation between lifestyles in Western and emerging countries.
In the European and North American cities, between one quarter and one third of the population lives alone, compared with just 2 to 4% in Shanghai, Beijing,Mexico City and Alexandria.

In these latter cities, the number of people living in the household is therefore logically higher:80% have three or more people, including different generations or a greater number of children, with situations no doubt differing from one country to another.

Thus,in Alexandria,34% of households have two or more children. In Shanghai and Beijing, as a consequence of the one child policy, there are no households with two or more children. The high number of people per household in China is attributable to several generations living together under one roof.

The proportion of households without any children is more than 70% in Berlin, Paris and Tokyo. Generally speaking, households in Western countries rarely have more than two people.

"The average city dweller ? Someone who has a long working day, and finds it difficult to do anything else afterwards."
An inhabitant of Alexandria