Quality of life depends in part on the physical and social characteristics of people’s direct surroundings. This working paper offers a framework to identify aspects of the local area influencing quality of life. It does so by mapping relevant characteristics of the local area asked for in major surveys in Europe, and by drawing from the research literature.
The document further discusses the challenges of rural-urban typologies, and, finally, how it is important to be aware of interlinkage of these aspects when designing policies to improve quality of life in the local area.
This paper aims to inform policy makers, researchers, and other stakeholders, including those involved in developing measurement frameworks.
