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Algarve property offers quality of life

Date: 31/1/2008

Lisbon and Albufeira are the municipalities with the best quality of life in the country, according to an index drawn up by the University of Beira Interior to which the Lusa agency had access yesterday.

The Municipal Index of Quality of Life, produced by the Observatory for Economic and Social Development (ODES) at that university, places the municipalities of Vinhais and Sabugal in the North and Centre of the country, in the bottom two positions, but the Algarve also has a representative in the bottom 20 on the list, the municipality of Alcoutim.

The index is based on the National Statistics Institute’s 2004 statistical year-book which, according to Professor Pires Manso of the UBI, who is in charge of the ODES and was joint author of the work with Nuno Simões of the Observatory, was subjected to an original and innovative methodology.

He explained that the index took hundreds of quantitative variables into account, such as GDP and consumption, and qualitative variables such as the availability of cultural facilities and others which are difficult to measure.

Using some simple statistical techniques and others which are more elaborate such as multivariates, an example of factorial analysis, the index evaluates each municipality on the basis of three factors: education and the employment market; infra-structure; the economic and residential environment.

Lisbon heads the table with a Quality of Life Indicator (IQV) of 205.07 points while Sabugal (Guarda) is in last place (278th) with an IQV of 5.29.

Pires Manso highlighted the point that, when the ranking is analysed, the position of the municipalities of the Greater Lisbon area and the Algarve stand out, together occupying 14 of the top 20 places on the list.

He added that other municipalities in good positions among the top 20 were São João da Madeira (3rd) and Porto (4th), both in the North region, the municipalities of Aveiro (10th), Coimbra (15th) and Marinha Grande (16th) in the Central region, and Sines (20th), the highest placed Alentejo municipality.

The researcher added that, looking at the bottom of the table, the main conclusion that can be drawn is that the last places are mostly occupied by municipalities in the North and Centre of the country: of the bottom 50 places, 43 are occupied by municipalities in these two regions.

Apart from the ranking, Pires Manso stressed the fact that the work showed how important the selection of factors was when the aim is to measure quality of life. Despite the fact that the results do not differ much from what was expected, it is possible to identify particularly successful cases.

The top twenty in the classification by IQV are: Lisbon 205.07; Albufeira 181.04; São João da Madeira 168.57; Porto 161.05; Sintra 158.73; Lagos 158.51; Cascais 148.57; Lagoa 143.95; Vila Franca de Xira 142.82; Aveiro 142.81; Loulé 141.43; Portimão 140.04; Oeiras 135.78; Faro 134.13; Coimbra 133.45; Marinha Grande 131.56; Vila Real de Santo António 130.86; Amadora 130.32; Palmela 128.77; Sines 128.65. Source: Observatório do Algarve

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