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Paris, February 12, 2008 - Veolia Environnement has been a partner to cities for more than 150 years. The company anticipates the complexity of urban problems and their interaction so as to offer essential services that improve the quality of urban life. By 2030, 60% of the world population will be living in cities.

Veolia Environnement has now set up the Veolia Observatory of Urban Lifestyles to augment its knowledge of the city. The Observatory is publishing the findings of its first study, which was carried out by Ipsos, the French market research institute. The study examines the relationship between city dwellers and the place where they live. A total of 8,500 people were surveyed in 14 cities: Alexandria, Beijing, Berlin, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Lyons, Mexico City, New York, Paris, Prague, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo.

The answers of the respondents in the 14 cities enabled the Observatory to establish:

A city typology, with six main features:

• "Convenient and cultural" cities: Paris, London, Lyons and New York for their cosmopolitism, architecture, leisure pursuits and ease of travel.
• "Easy to live" cities: Chicago, Sydney and Los Angeles for their lower levels of population density and closeness to nature. Cities where residents say they are not very stressed and are optimistic.
• Cities "in full boom and looking to the future": Residents of Beijing and Shanghai are proud of their economic prowess.
• "Fun-loving" cities: Alexandria, Prague and Berlin for the possibilities they offer to go out, have fun and meet people, and for their range of cultural and sport activities.
• "Cold" cities: Tokyo is appreciated for its convenience, but is found to be lacking in warmth and friendliness.
• "Frightening" cities: Mexico City brings out negative feelings arising mainly out of safety and urbanization issues.

Profile of a typical city dweller

The typical city dweller, as seen by his or her peers, is aged around 30, single and with no children. They live in a tightly knit, but superficial, social network. They are seen as being, in the near future, pawns dedicated to productivity, living in a cold, unvarying universe.

Although they readily criticize their environment, city dwellers greatly appreciate that everything they want and need is close at hand. They complain about the cost of living, and do not take full advantage of the activities on offer as they are largely focused on their work. They define the city as a place where they can meet people, but are critical of the superficiality of relations and feel isolated. They are torn between the desire to leave and to stay, whether to raise children there or not. The city is a place for projecting both hopes and fears.

83% of city dwellers are satisfied with their city...

"The city means freedom" for all of the city dwellers surveyed. But this freedom is very quickly undermined by the cost of living, which is seen as a pressure by all of them: "To live well in the city, you have to earn a good living." There is another contradiction in feelings about the city: although seen as a place where you can meet people, it is also seen as being anonymous and a place where you can suffer from loneliness.

Urbanites love their city and are greatly attached to it, even if they sometimes say they want to leave it. The city both attracts and irritates them. It incites mixed, but always intense, feelings.

For city dwellers, quality of life means above all an acceptable cost of living and personal and property safety. Next come concerns relating to the environment, infrastructure, organization and services.

...with a few reservations

One offender: the car, in all the cities, the car is criticized for the noise, traffic jams andpollution it causes. City dwellers want a more appropriate means of transportation for their city.

One fear: safety is mainly a concern for the future, but is already very present in Mexico City and, to a lesser extent, in Tokyo.

For 48% of city dwellers, the city is a choice

Living in the city is a choice that is often dictated by family or work reasons, and is strongly motivated by a very independent state of mind: they are proud to be urbanites. In regards to choosing the city they live in, 75% of city dwellers state that they wanted to live where they live, rather than in any other city. Some 48% of respondents were not born in they city where they now live.

In all countries, the city is seen as being an expensive place to live.

A total 57% of urbanites believe that demographic growth will eventually have a negative impact on their city.

Does the ideal city exist?

The ideal city is not in fact based on fantasies, but rather on practical, rational suggestions.

Based on the ideas expressed in focus groups, the ideal city will have:

• The living environment of Sydney and Chicago
• The mass transit systems of Tokyo
• The economic vitality of Shanghai and Beijing
• The range of cultural activities of Paris
• The population diversity of New York
• The cleanliness of Los Angeles
• The fun-loving atmosphere and warmth of Alexandria
• The ease of meeting people of Berlin
• The architecture of Prague

The detailed findings of this survey, led by Ipsos between September and December 2007, are to be found in a brochure published by the Veolia Observatory of Urban Lifestyles. The survey was carried out using a sample of 8,500 people that are representative of the residents of each city, not including residents of the greater urban area. The respondents are aged between 15 and 70 and were selected using the quota method (sex, age and professional situation).

The survey will be repeated in 2009 based on another panel of cities around the world.

Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext : VIE et NYSE : VE) est le leader mondial des services à l'environnement. Présent sur les cinq continents avec plus de 300 000 salariés, le groupe apporte des solutions sur-mesure aux collectivités comme aux industriels dans quatre activités complémentaires : la gestion de l'eau, la gestion des déchets, la gestion énergétique et la gestion des transports de fret et de voyageurs. Veolia Environnement a réalisé en 2007 un chiffre d'affaires de 32,6 milliards d'euros. www.veolia.com

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Veolia Environnement

Marie-Claire Camus
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