Beyond the measurement of urban well-being: What perception of quality of life in the European cities?
Bourdin, Sébastien
Beyond the measurement of urban well-being: What perception of quality of life in the European cities? - 2017.
38
Although numerous studies in the scientific literature focus on the subject of well-being in cities using objective indicators, there are still few published works today that look at the subjective dimension concerning the local people’s satisfaction with their urban environment. The issue of quality of life is playing an increasing role in a context of growing competition between cities. The latter regularly assert their strengths to attract new residents. The objective of this article is to propose a comparative study of the urban quality of life across EU cities based on the Urban Audit. More specifically, the article analyzes the existence of a spatial differentiation of the quality of life as perceived by the inhabitants by proposing a multi-dimensional approach to this question. The subsequent construction of a composite index and a typology of European cities for 2006 and 2012 clearly shows a geography of the quality of life at the European level and the influence of the socio-economic and territorial condition in that perception. However, there are also a number of cities in our sample with good results for some indicators and non-performing results for others, raising questions as to the role of public policies for urban development.
Beyond the measurement of urban well-being: What perception of quality of life in the European cities? - 2017.
38
Although numerous studies in the scientific literature focus on the subject of well-being in cities using objective indicators, there are still few published works today that look at the subjective dimension concerning the local people’s satisfaction with their urban environment. The issue of quality of life is playing an increasing role in a context of growing competition between cities. The latter regularly assert their strengths to attract new residents. The objective of this article is to propose a comparative study of the urban quality of life across EU cities based on the Urban Audit. More specifically, the article analyzes the existence of a spatial differentiation of the quality of life as perceived by the inhabitants by proposing a multi-dimensional approach to this question. The subsequent construction of a composite index and a typology of European cities for 2006 and 2012 clearly shows a geography of the quality of life at the European level and the influence of the socio-economic and territorial condition in that perception. However, there are also a number of cities in our sample with good results for some indicators and non-performing results for others, raising questions as to the role of public policies for urban development.
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