New Global Survey Reveals City Dwellers Around the World
Hold Similar Views and Feelings about City Life

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In a first-of-its-kind biennial survey from Veolia Environnement, the world’s largest environmental services company, 8,600 people in 14 of the world’s largest cities have revealed very common likes and dislikes for life in the city while painting a picture of their ideal future city.

The findings of the study – the first of its magnitude and scope to examine how people actually feel about city living by contrasting multiple cities on a global basis – has notable importance because for the first time in history, 50 percent of the world’s population lives in cities – up from only 10 percent just 100 years ago. By 2025, the number is expected to increase to nearly 60 percent, presenting a multiplicity of challenges as cities struggle to provide essential services and a good quality of life for their residents.

Overall, the global findings show 83 percent of city dwellers are satisfied with their city and 75 percent want to continue living in their city. But these positive attitudes are tempered by contradictory feelings about city life, with residents feeling a great sense of freedom (84 percent) but feeling constrained by high cost-of-living and economic pressures (80 percent). The city is viewed as a setting where it is relatively easy to meet people (72 percent) but one that triggers feelings of isolation, anonymity and anxiety among a majority (53 percent) of people. Convenience, attachment and stress were the top three feelings respondents used to describe their relationship with their city. Mixed emotions seem to be a permanent fixture of city life around the globe.

The three U.S. cities surveyed (New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) performed well. Chicagoans are the most satisfied (percent “very satisfied”) with their city overall (49 percent), followed by Sydney (44 percent), New York (41 percent), Berlin (38 percent), Los Angeles and Paris (35 percent each). Satisfaction is lowest in Mexico City (19 percent), Beijing (18 percent) and Tokyo (14 percent).

In addition to convenience, a sense of freedom and an ease in meeting people, city dwellers appreciate cities for their sports and cultural activities, public transportation and the diversity of people. Chief among their dislikes and concerns are the costs of living, traffic jams, safety, pollution, noise, dirt and poor management of public services. What city dwellers say would improve their quality of life includes reduced cost of living (49 percent globally versus 59 percent for U.S. cities), improved safety (27 percent), less pollution (25 percent), reduced unemployment (25 percent), fewer traffic jams (23 percent) and development of public transportation (18 percent).

“The survey shows how city dwellers worldwide share very common personal desires and a common concern for the future of their cities,” said Michel Gourvennec, chief executive of the Veolia Environnement group in North America. “The growth pace of large urban areas is spurring greater complexity in the management of public services and infrastructure. City dwellers want greener, cleaner cities with better affordability and greater mobility. Veolia Environnement is especially interested in helping people improve their quality of life and the survey represents another way for our clients to recognize, anticipate and plan for the complexities associated with urban living.”

More Key Findings

What urbanites like about the cities where they live - Worldwide, respondents cited the following when asked what they like most about the city where they live: Public transportation systems (36 percent), sports and cultural activities (35 percent), economic and cultural dynamism (30 and 29 percent, respectively), entertainment possibilities (26 percent), and diversity (23 percent).

What urbanites dislike about the cities where they live - Respondents cited the following when asked what they hate about the city where they live: Traffic jams (48 percent), pollution (38 percent), noise (28 percent), dirt (26 percent), poor management of public services and crowds (both at 25 percent).

Improving public transportation and mobility is important to city dwellers - Sixty-six percent of respondents in all 14 cities use public transportation as their primary means of transportation versus a much lower 41 percent in the U.S. Residents in Los Angeles and Chicago are more likely to use cars as their primary means of transportation (82 percent) versus the global average (53 percent). Overall, Americans are more likely to see traffic congestion as a strong dislike and are more passionate about reducing traffic congestion as a key way to improve quality of life.

Residents of Shanghai, Beijing, Chicago, Prague, Lyon and Paris are most confident about the future of their city. Around the world, however, the percent that is “very confident” is relatively low (16 percent) versus 49 percent who are “somewhat confident” about the future. Chief worries for the future include: cost of living (72 percent), air quality (66 percent), noise (65 percent), quality of the environment (56 percent) and housing (55 percent).

What is the ideal city? Focus group participants around the globe described the ideal city as a combination that includes:

• Sydney, Chicago and Los Angeles, best described as “easy to live” cities because of a closeness to nature (ocean and Great Lakes settings) and optimism
• Tokyo’s mass transit system and convenience
• Shanghai and Beijing’s economic vitality
• Paris, London and New York’s cosmopolitan setting and cultural activities
• New York, Chicago and Los Angeles’s population diversity
• Alexandria, Berlin and Prague’s fun-loving social atmosphere and ease in meeting people
• Prague and Chicago’s friendliness
• Prague’s architecture

From a negative perspective, Tokyo was generally considered a “cold” city for its lack of warmth and friendliness, while the survey underscored Mexico City residents’ concern for safety and negative feelings arising from urbanization.

How city dwellers spend their time is universal around the world. During the week, the typical city dweller sleeps 7 hours on average and devotes 7 hours to work, 2 hours to transportation, 2 hours each to administrative tasks and chores, and enjoys approximately 4 hours for personal leisure time. Similarly, residents from all cities desire more sleep (1 hour, ideally), less time in transport (1 hour), less time at work (1 hour) and 2 more hours per day for family, friends and personal leisure.

First-of-its-kind biennial survey

Veolia Environnement established the Veolia Observatory of Urban Lifestyles to augment its knowledge of the complexities of urban life and examine people’s relationships to their cities.

The Observatory’s first study was conducted in conjunction with global market research leader Ipsos, which surveyed more than 8,600 people in Alexandria, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Lyon, Mexico City, New York, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. Surveys were conducted online, and personal interviews were conducted in Alexandria and Prague where Internet penetration is low. Focus groups in 11 of the 14 cities supplemented quantitative survey findings.

The Veolia Observatory will conduct biennial studies probing the attitudes of urban dwellers across the globe.

More information about Veolia Observatory and The Veolia Observatory Survey of Urban Lifestyles is available at http://www.observatoire.veolia.com/en/.

About Veolia Environnement

Veolia Environnement (NYSE:VE) and (Paris:VIE) is the world’s largest environmental services company providing tailored solutions in water management, waste management, energy management and freight and passenger transportation. With more than 320,000 employees, Veolia Environnement recorded annual revenues of $48 billion for the 2007 fiscal year. Visit the company's global Web site at www.veoliaenvironnement.com and North American Web site at www.veolianorthamerica.com.

Important Disclaimer. Veolia Environnement is a corporation listed on the NYSE and Euronext Paris. This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside our control, including but not limited to: the risk of suffering reduced profits or losses as a result of intense competition, the risk that changes in energy prices and taxes may reduce Veolia Environnement’s profits, the risk that governmental authorities could terminate or modify some of Veolia Environnement’s contracts, the risk that Veolia Environnement’s compliance with environmental laws may become more costly in the future, the risk that currency exchange rate fluctuations may negatively affect Veolia Environnement’s financial results and the price of its shares, the risk that Veolia Environnement may incur environmental liability in connection with its past, present and future operations, and the risks related to Veolia Environnement’s relationship with Vivendi Universal, as well as the risks described in the documents Veolia Environnement has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Veolia Environnement does not undertake, nor does it have, any obligation to provide updates or to revise any forward-looking statements. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of documents filed by Veolia Environnement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from Veolia Environnement.