A new survey commissioned by the engineering and design company AFRY shows that young Europeans prefer to live in small cities with less than 100 000 inhabitants. Only one in ten wants to live in cities with more than 1 million inhabitants and affordable housing is the most important factor when young adults choose where to live in the future.

To understand how the pandemic has affected young people’s views on their future and where to live, AFRY has conducted a survey among 6 000 young adults, aged 18-35, in seven European countries, during August to September 2021. The results suggest that the pandemic has had an effect on young adults’ preferences, as one in four (24 percent) state that their attitude towards living in a city has changed negatively.

Young Europeans don’t want to live in megacities, instead small and mid-sized cities have a greater appeal. A majority (58 percent) prefer cities with less than 100 000 inhabitants, and one third want to live in communities with no more than 20 000 inhabitants. This is especially true in Austria and Switzerland, while young adults living in the Nordic countries prefer a mid-sized city.

The survey was conducted by the research company YouGov between 23 August and 6 September 2021 among young people aged 18 to 35 in seven European countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. In total 6,205 took part in the survey. A detailed summary can be found here.

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