Is the Size of the City Important for the Quality of Urban Life? Comparison of a Small and a Large City

Abstract

In the recent past, the question of determining the optimal city size in relation to the quality of urban life (QoUL) was raised of city inhabitants. This article has evaluated the correlation of the QoUL index in cities in relation to the number of inhabitants. We also deal with selected variables for which we assume a relationship with QoUL. The authors who calculated the indices of the quality of urban life equated the quality of life with its objective dimension considered as the quality of the place. It turned out that growth in the number of inhabitants of Slovak cities did not correlate with improving quality of life. Our article examined QoUL in two different countries on a scale of 0–10 through questionnaires. The obtained values are a subjective assessment. From a global point of view, one city is small and the other is big. The small city achieved better results in international rankings of quality of life, and it was assumed that this fact would also be reflected in the quantification of the quality of urban life. One hypothesis was that a small city will achieve better urban life quality values than a large city. The paper presents the results of measurement and correlation.