Tourism and Socio-cultural Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 213

50 years. The Your Better Life Index comprises 11 dimensions: community,
education, environment, civic engagement, health, housing, income, jobs, life
satisfaction, safety and work-life balance. Multiple indicators measured each
dimension, and thus, a total of 20 indicators were used across 11 dimensions,
and three more indicators were added in 2012 ( The Economist , 2011; OECD,
2012). This measurement was determined by the suggestion of the 2009
report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance
and Social Progress, also known as the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission
(OECD, 2012; Stiglitz et al. , 2010). Originally the OECD measured its 34
member countries, plus the OECD key partner countries (China, India,
Indonesia and South Africa), and in 2013, the 34 member countries and
Brazil and Russia were on the Index (OECD, 2012, 2013).
The Your Better Life Index is an interactive visualisation tool, showing
each country in the form of a multi-coloured, shape-shifting flower. Each
flower petal denotes a dimension of the 11 measurement topics. Each petal's
length represents the country's score in a particular dimension; the width
indicates the significance or priority level that the user assigned (Nesterko,
2013). Users can set their priority for 'better life' by manipulating the levels
of dimensions in the Create Your Better Life Index tool. Then the display
rearranges the location of the countries. When the user moves the curser to
a flower, it shows the country's performance in a bar chart in a separate box
(visit 'Create Your Better Life Index' at www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/).
The report How's Life? from the 2011 Better Life Index was published in
October 2011. This report covers 40 countries and assesses the 11 dimensions
of the Better Life Index. This report emphasises that development must be
measured beyond GDP:
Well-being is intrinsically linked to good health, a clean environment, a
strong sense of community and civic engagement, a home in good shape,
and a safe neighbourhood. Government should ensure that most people
benefit from these factors, while fighting inequality and poverty,
which remain big barriers to well-being for too many. (OECD, 2011)
Although the Better Life Index is more complex than the HDI, there are
still some shortcomings. For instance, Porter et al. (2013) analysed the
Better Life Index as being a hybrid of economic indicators and social indica-
tors, which includes subjective evaluation of personal well-being; neverthe-
less, the overall measurement still leans heavily towards economic
indicators. They also argue that, like the HDI, the index does not provide
guidelines for further development. Nesterko (2013) examines the user-
friendliness of the index tool and points out that the Better Life Index
cannot make comparisons over time. The index is also limited to OECD
member countries; therefore, newly emerging nations or rapidly developing
nations are not included (Nesterko, 2013). These limitations imply that the