How have municipal management and services rated during the pandemic?

The 2020 edition of the Public Services Survey comes within the extraordinary context of the pandemic. Citizens rated their satisfaction at living in Barcelona with a score of 7.3 and approved of the 26 municipal services being assessed, except for parking. Municipal management achieved a rating of 5.7 from local residents. The survey detected an increase in the number of people who would prefer to live away from the city, a common pattern identified in many Spanish and European cities during the Covid-19 crisis.

29/03/2021 15:45 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

Municipal management

The Municipal Services Survey 2020 shows a slight drop in ratings for municipal management. Local people interviewed gave it a rating of 5.7 (out of ten), half a point lower than the previous year. The score for the City Council remains higher than the score for the Government of Catalonia though (5.3), as well as the Spanish government (4.5).

Municipal services

Most of the 26 municipal services assessed gained good scores from the people of Barcelona, with parking (4 out of 10) the only service failing to make the grade. The best rated services continue to be the Barcelona Fire Service (8.2), the city’s libraries (7.7), municipal markets (7.4) and community centres (7.4).

Main problems for the city

Insecurity is the main problem for the city according to 17.7% of those surveyed, followed by difficulty accessing housing (7.6%) and Covid-19 (7.5%). Other significant issues for people include unemployment and labour conditions (7.1%), cleaning (6.8%), traffic (5.5%) and pollution (4.9%).

Public perception

Over half of those surveyed believe that the situation in the city has worsened in the last year (59.2%), compared to 14.3% who think it is unchanged and 22.4% who think it has improved. Going forward, there is more optimism among people, with 53.8% expecting the situation to improve.

Living away from the city

As with many Spanish and European cities, within the context of the pandemic, the number of Barcelona residents who would prefer to live away from the city has risen from 15.5% (in 2017) to 30%. This is a general trend and the main causes could be the months of lockdown and the prevention measures for Covid-19. The report ‘Covid and Urban Trends’ has been specially compiled by the Municipal Data Office to study this, and is available here.

The main municipal demoscopic tool

The Municipal Services Survey is conducted among 6,000 city people every year and is Barcelona City Council’s main tool for gauging public opinion on important matters for the city, the neighbourhoods and municipal management. The 2020 edition was conducted in the autumn, during the second wave of Covid-19.

 

 

 

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