Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1.5 Quality of Life and Sustainability
Quality of life has been the domain of development discourse for the past
decade. It has been widely recognised that measuring progress in terms of
GDP is not sufficient. However, an adequate definition of quality of life is
still missing. Diverse 'objective' and 'subjective' indicators across a range of
disciplines and scales and recent work on SWB surveys and the psychology
of happiness have spurred renewed interest [17].
Currently, there are a number of indices proposed and used by different
organisations to score and rate cities and countries according to their quality
of life. These organisations vary in nature and interests and thus in focus
and methodology [13]. The most important indices are Quality of Living by
Mercer [41], Quality of Life Index by the EIU [14],* nations' rankings accord-
ing to quality of life compiled independently [42], and OECD's Your Better
Life Index [43]. It is apparent that these different indices focus on a number of
common aspects as the main core of quality of life, namely: housing, income,
jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfac-
tion, safety and work-life balance.
Despite these various efforts, an important aspect is still missing in most
indices. It is sustainability—whether or not this level of quality of life can be
sustained and whether or not it is affecting the ability of future generations
to attain such levels. This notion is still underscored because it is complex to
assess [13].
There are other indices that measure and rate the sustainability of a
city. One of the most recent sustainability indices is the Green City Index.
This index measures the current environmental performance of major
cities on different continents as well as their commitment to reducing
their future environmental impact by way of on-going initiatives and
objectives. The EIU, in cooperation with Siemens, developed the meth-
odology. An independent panel of urban sustainability experts provided
important insights and feedback on the methodology. The index scores
cities across eight categories (as shown in Figure 1.3): CO
2
emissions,
energy, buildings, transport, water, waste and land use, air quality and
environmental governance, and 30 individual indicators. Sixteen of the
index's 30 indicators are derived from quantitative data and aim to mea-
sure how a city is currently performing. The remaining 14 indicators are
qualitative assessments of cities' aspirations or ambitions—for example,
their commitment to consuming more renewable energy, to improving the
energy efficiency of buildings, to reducing congestion or to recycling and
reusing waste [44].
*
The business information arm of The Economist Group, publisher of
The Economist
.
