From the neighbourhood to the square. Capturing (and comparing) perceptions on subjective well-being at two different scales

Abstract

The paper presents a methodology employed to measure the subjective dimension of quality of life (QoL) responding to subjective well-being (SWB), based on the perceptions of people using and interacting with the urban and social space. To check the levels of satisfaction, two surveys were created using the fundamental human needs of the Human Scale development paradigm as study categories. The selected places constituting the case study refer to two different scales of the same urban area corresponding to i) Vila de Gràcia neighbourhood and ii) Virreina square, of the Gràcia district of Barcelona (Spain). Results show scores per need and in total (SWB) are lower for the neighbourhood scale. The classification of questions per need favours theidentification of potential problems and can be used to implement measures of improvement. By using combined intervention axes we prove that an average 20% increase in SWB is possible for both cases.