Nicosians dislike foreigners and public transport

THE MAJORITY of Nicosia residents disagree that the presence of foreigners is beneficial for their city, according to a European survey on quality of life.

EU city dwellers’ opinions about the presence of foreigners in their city were generally positive in 68 cities out of the 75 surveyed.

A slim majority of all the interviewees EU-wide, at least, strongly or somewhat agreed that the presence of foreigners was good for their city.

Respondents in the Nicosia sample, on the other hand were least likely to ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ agree that the presence of foreigners was good – seven and 24 per cent respectively.

About two-thirds disagreed – 41 per cent strongly disagreed and 24 per cent somewhat disagreed.

Nicosia residents also identified public transport as one of the most important problems of the city, with 45 per cent citing its absence as a problem.

Forty-four per cent said health services was the most important problem while air pollution was selected by 35 per cent.

Nicosia also stood out with 84 per cent of respondents saying they never used public transport.

Only a minority – four per cent – used public transport to commute in Nicosia with 91 per cent travelling by car or motorcycle.

Just five per cent walked or cycled to work.

The majority, 55 per cent, said they were not satisfied at all with public transport in Nicosia citing insufficient frequency as the reason for not using it.

Variations in time schedules and unreliable schedules were also mentioned by 23 per cent of respondents in Nicosia. Five hundred people were questioned in each city.

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