Study: 62 pct of Romanians dream to move to countryside, in coming years; essential condition - good Internet connection

Nearly two thirds of Romanians (62 pct) living in the urban environment could move to the countryside, in the next one or two years, but the number one condition to make this step is a good internet connection, show the results of the Vodafone Institute's Digitising Europe Pulse survey published on Wednesday. The same research reveals the fact that 59 pct of the responders stated that the pandemic influenced or changed their opinion regarding the perspective of living at the countryside. Asked about the advantages or disadvantages of living in the rural environment, 74 and 80 pct, respectively, of the total of those interviewed consider the closeness to nature and its benefits for a healthy lifestyle as the biggest virtues. Only 19 pct have indicated cheaper rents, while the advantages of living in the countryside predominate for 44 pct of Romanians in cities. According to the study, the number one precondition for a life at the countryside is, by far, a good internet connection, thus 69 pct of Romanians say it's a must-have, while for 25 pct it´s a nice to have. This finding is consistent for all European countries.  More than half of those questioned (54 pct) believe that a good service healthcare infrastructure is essential, 42 pct see good public transport as important, while 46 pct maintain that good education institutions represent an essential condition. Digitising Europe Pulse survey was conducted by Kantar on behalf of the Vodafone Institute with over 15,000 interviewees from 15 European countries, between May 5 - June 16, 2021, including: the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. There was a sample size of at least 1,000 interviews per country, and all participants were aged 16 years or older. The full report will be available in the coming weeks. The Vodafone Institute for Society and Communications offers expertise and based ideas, as well as a dialogue platform for the business environment, the academic environment and political deciders. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Razvan-Adrian Pandea, editor: Simona Iacob)