Six in ten Romanians would move to countryside
Six in ten Romanian urbanites say that the pandemic influenced or changed their opinion on living in the countryside and 62% could imagine moving to the countryside in the next one or two years, according to the Digitizing Europe Pulse survey.
Asked about advantages and disadvantages of the country life, 74%, respectively 80% of the Romanian urbanites surveyed consider the closeness to nature and its benefits for a healthy lifestyle as the biggest virtues. Only 19% named cheaper rents as a benefit of country life. The advantages of country life predominate for 44% of urbanites in Romania.
The number one precondition for a life at the countryside is by far a good internet connection, the survey found: 69% of Romanian polled say it’s a must-have and for 25% it´s a nice to have.
This finding is consistent for all European countries.
A reliable internet connection was deemed more important than good health infrastructure, which 54% of Romanians polled agreed was essential, or good public transport which 42% agreed was a must-have’. Also, 46% of Romanians consider good educational institutions as an essential prerequisite.
“In light of the experiences of the pandemic, closing the gap between urban and rural life seems has become even more important in the European Union. As the new Digitizing Europe Pulse shows, connectivity is the most necessary precondition for moving to the countryside, which still proves to be insufficient in many countries. With the Digital Decade targets in mind and investments through the Recovery and Resilience Facility directed toward digital transformation, the EU now has a unique opportunity to foster cohesion and improve the quality of life of millions of European citizens,” said Inger Paus, Managing Director of the Vodafone Institute.
The survey was conducted online by survey conducted by Kantar and included 15,000 citizens from across 15 European countries: Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK.
www.zfenglish.com 30.06.2021
