WHERE IS LIVING GOOD IN RUSSIA?

In 2021, for the first time in our country, an index for assessing the quality of life in Russian cities was launched, which compares Russian cities with foreign ones according to international OECD indicators.
The first results of the index showed that the level of housing provision in our country is insufficient: in Russian cities the average number of rooms per person is 0.9, while abroad it is twice as much. At the same time, the average level of automobilization in Russian cities is 30% lower than in foreign cities, which gives room for further development of public transport rather than the use of private cars. Accessibility of infrastructure (schools, hospitals) in Russia is comparable to the level of OECD cities. For example, the proportion of the population living within a 20-minute walking distance of schools in Russian cities is 81%, while in OECD cities it is 90.5%. At the same time, Russian cities face serious climatic problems: the number of warm and hot days is steadily increasing, especially in southern cities (this figure is comparable to OECD cities). In 50% of cities in Russia, water levels in water bodies are dropping.
Importantly, the index revealed a number of problems with access to statistics on the quality of life of the population at the city level. For example, Russia does not measure concentrations of suspended particle PM2.5 for air quality assessment. There are no broadband access maps to collect Internet coverage figures in cities, and education and income data are not collected at all at the city level.


Discussion points:
• How will the Quality of Life Index in Russian cities develop further?
• Is there a need for an international comparison not only of cities but also of regions?
• How will the index results be used at the federal level?