Car-Free City Centers
Cities ranked by the share of citizens never or rarely traveling to the city center by their own car.
Travelling into the city centre is more common in smaller cities
Town Town (50K-100K)
Small Small City (100K-250K)
Medium Medium City (250K-500K)
Large Large City (500K-1M)
Major Major City (1M-5M)
Town (50K-100K)
Small City (100K-250K)
Medium City (250K-500K)
Large City (500K-1M)
Major City (1M-5M)
Cities where residents drive through the city centre the least
Cities where residents drive through the city centre the most
The smallest proportion of drivers who avoid the city centre
The largest proportion of drivers who avoid the city centre
Launched in 2025, an annual survey currently covers 62 cities across 11 countries: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Citizens in each city answer the same set of questions, allowing direct, like-for-like comparisons across the region. Topics range from traditional urban issues - congestion, transport, infrastructure - to broader questions about how people feel, what they need, and how their city impacts their lives. Most ratings within the index reflect a single answer to a single question, keeping comparisons simple and transparent.
The survey is commissioned by European mobility platform Bolt and conducted by market research and insight technology company Syno International. Data is collected via online survey in compliance with GDPR, ISO, and ESOMAR standards, with analysis supervised by certified sociologists at Syno International.
