Quality of life is influenced by the physical and social characteristics of people’s direct surroundings. Eurofound recent exploratory paper presents an illustrated framework, defining aspects of the local area which contribute to quality of life, applicable all across the EU.
It distinguishes 1) social and economic, 2) physical, and 3) services and government aspects of the local area. The framework also introduces a spatial dimension: broadly dividing local area aspects into those that need to be in people’s immediate, intermediate or more distant surroundings in order for them to contribute to improving quality of life. The importance of access and quality are highlighted.
The importance of the various aspects for an individual depends on needs (varying with household characteristics and broader context) and preferences. Some neighbourhood problems can be mitigated by the quality of the dwelling, but options therefore are larger for the better-off. Similarly, mobility and social capital can contribute to quality of life in themselves, but can also mitigate problems in the local area for instance in access to services and distance.
In ageing societies across the EU, the paper underlines that the local area is likely to increase in importance as older people on average spend more time in the area where they live. The local area can also facilitate longer lives in the community. This concerns access to services, but also physical aspects. For instance, even and wide pavements can not only contribute to quality of life by themselves, but also by their positive impact on mobility and social cohesion.
The paper calls for e.g. a better communication between local actors and EU, national and regional policy actors to improve quality of life, cooperation between adjacent jurisdictions, multi-sectorial interventions, and attention paid to digitalization.
The working paper is available here.