Quality of life of the elderly: leadership remains in the North-East but the exploit is Milan and Rome

It is the elderly in two provinces in the deep north, Trieste and Trento, who have the most to gain in terms of quality of life. The Julian territory takes home the pink jersey by virtue of better placings than its rival in the 'intermediate' ranking positions, and does so despite being in last place for the high number of people living alone (almost 50%, compared to 27% for the confirmed record-holder Barletta-Andria-Trani). Trento has to be content with the place of honour, though it does win three firsts in individual indicators: ex aequo with Rimini for life expectancy at 65 (still 22 and a half years on average), alone for home care and for civic participation, i.e. the share of over-50s among employees of non-profit associations.

However, the most relevant aspect, for 2026, concerns the excellent placings of the ten provinces where the most populous capitals are located, all in the first half of the ranking. Climbing up we find Naples (51st), Palermo (42nd), Catania (22nd, and first for spending on transport for the elderly and disabled), Turin (21st), Bari (14th), Genoa, Florence and Bologna - ninth, eighth and seventh respectively - to arrive at the most relevant exploits: Rome is fourth and Milan third.

The two metropolises confirm a strong point, linked to the average amount of old-age pensions, a parameter in which Milan excels with an average of 26,300 euro per year while Rome is fourth. There are also notable placings in various 'items' already present in previous years, but the great acceleration comes thanks to the three new Centro Studi Tagliacarne-Urban Pulse 15 indicators, which are linked to a series of services that can be used by people over the age of 70 with walking distances of no more than 15 minutes.

When it comes to personal services, Milan is first and Rome fourth (with Bari third, Naples seventh and Turin eighth). For health and care services, where Cagliari is in the lead, Milan is fourth and Rome eighth (with Bari again third, Palermo seventh and Naples ninth). Lastly, for trade services, which is to be equated with the so-called neighbourhood shops, which are more able to survive in the South: Rome remains in the top ten, in eighth place, while Bari is second, behind Barletta-Andria-Trani and ahead of Naples, with Palermo in tenth place. Milan, however, takes a good 14th place, just behind Genoa.

Other parameters include Como's confirmation for urban gardens and Foggia's for non-pediatric nurses, while South Sardinia and Isernia stand out for their low consumption of drugs against chronic diseases and antidepressants, respectively. Remarkable is the predominance of the North-East in home care, from first place in Treviso to seventh in Rovigo.