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City living beats rural idyll by a country mile

By The Copenhagen Post

Published 16.11.07   14:30 

A new report shows that Danes are happier with the hustle and bustle of city life than the idyll of country living

A recently published European study has found that living in the city is more attractive than living in the countryside.

The study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND), is the biggest of its kind so far for investigating EU residents' quality of life.

One of the main conclusions showed that city dwellers were by far the happiest people.

Each year sees the migration of some 55,000 Danes from cities to the countryside.

Thorkild Ærø, chief researcher at the Danish Building Research Institute, has investigated the trend. He found his results comparable to those in the EUROFOUND report.

He explained that many people harboured romanticised dreams of long peaceful walks in natural surroundings and having more time.

However, this was seldom the case in reality.

'Many people are just as busy as they were before they moved to the countryside as they now spend more time commuting,' he told Berlingske Tidende newspaper.

The rural migrants can be split into three categories: the ones who grew up in the area and want to move back there, the ones who are conscious of their choice and are seeking local communities and less stress, and finally, the commuters.

This last group of people has moved away from the city, but maintained their ties to it.