Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/635436
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 3 FEbruArY 2016 3 News James Debono Valletta, the designated european capital of culture in 2018, is the only eU capital city where considerably fewer than half of surveyed respondents say they are satisfied with their cul- tural facilities. Only 16% of Valletta residents are "very satisfied " with cultural facilities while 14% are rather satisfied. Overall the percentage of people satisfied with cultural facilities has dropped from 37% in 2012 to 34%. In 18 eU capitals the level of satisfaction with cultural facili- ties is above 80%. the highest ratings are seen in Vienna (97%) and Helsinki (94%). Valletta is among the 10 low- est ranked of the 83 european cities surveyed when it comes to agreeing with the statement that the presence of foreigners is a good thing for their city. around half of respondents in Valletta (51%) agree that the presence of foreigners is a good thing for their city. a slightly higher proportion agree that foreigners who live in the city are well integrated (53%). Respondents in Valletta are now less likely than in 2012 to agree that the presence of for- eigners is good for the city (-7 percentage points). there has been no significant change in agreement that for- eigners in the city are well inte- grated. Valletta is close to the middle of the ranking of the european cities regarding the statement that foreigners in their city are well integrated. Valletta also scored badly with regard to satisfaction with the state of streets and buildings with fewer than half of respond- ents (46%) saying they are satis- fied. Residents of Valletta express mixed views about various as- pects of their city. Respond- ents are most likely to be satis- fied with retail shops in their city (84%). Satisfaction is also relatively high regarding health care services (67%) and schools (65%). However, fewer than half of respondents are satisfied with public spaces (41%), sports fa- cilities (44%), public transport (46%) and streets and buildings (46%). Just one in five respond- ents living in Valletta (20%) agree that it is easy to find a job in the city. Valletta features in the lower half of the ranking of 83 cities surveyed on this issue. the perceived job situation in Valletta has not changed signifi- cantly from the previ- ous sur- veys, in 2009 and 2012. F e w e r t h a n half of r e s p o n d - ents liv- ing in Val- letta (44%) agree that it is easy to find good housing at a reasonable price in the city. Valletta is in the top half of the ranking of the 83 european cities surveyed on this issue. around four in five residents of Valletta say that they feel safe in their city (79%). a similar pro- portion agree that they feel safe in their neighbourhood (78%). Valletta is in the bottom half of the ranking of the 83 cities surveyed, with regard to feeling safe in the neighbourhood. It is close to the middle of the rank- ing with regard to feeling safe in the city as a whole. Satisfaction with public trans- port in Valletta is the second lowest among the 84 european cities surveyed. the level of sat- isfaction with public transport varies significantly between eU capitals. Four eU capi- tals are among the top 10 cities in terms of satisfaction: Vienna, Helsinki, Prague and london. However, four eU capitals are among the 10 cities with the lowest levels of satisfaction: Rome, lef kosia, Valletta and Bucharest. Respondents living in Valletta perceive air pollution as the most important issue facing their city (mentioned by 54% of respond- ents). Road infrastructure ranks as the second most important perceived issue (43%), followed by health services (33%). Valletta is one of only five cities in the survey as a whole where air pollution ranks as the most important issue facing the city. Valletta lagging behind in cultural facilities satisfaction Skyparks 2 project eyed as Vienna Airport increases MIA stake to 48% VIenna airport has an- nounced that it has bought Ca- nadian SnC-lavalin Group's indirect stake in Malta Inter- national airport for about €63 million. the deal is seen as further confirmation that Vienna air- port is seeing MIa as a poten- tial growth area. a Vienna airport source told Maltatoday that this decision should stand as further com- mitment of VIe to Malta. "It is also being seen in the light of investment plans for the airport in Malta, most especially the project for Skyparks 2." the deal will increase the austrian company's stake in the Maltese operator by 15.5 percentage points to more than 48%. It has also put to bed specula- tion that Vienna airport were opting out of MIa and selling their share to other parties. the purchase price was equiv- alent to €3 per Malta airport share, it said, a nearly 30 per- cent discount to Friday's closing price at €4.33. SnC-lavalin, an investor in the operator since it was priva- tised more than 13 years ago, said the sale was in line with its strategy to monetise some of its mature infrastructure conces- sion investments.