Commute satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction as predictors of subjective well-being and indicators of urban livability

Kostas Mouratidis

doi:10.1016/j.tbs.2020.07.006

Abstract

Commute satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction can be used as indicators of urban quality of life and livability due to their potential contribution to subjective well-being. This study aims to uncover whether these three concepts are indeed predictors of subjective well-being and reliable indicators of livability and quality of life in cities. The study presents and tests a model that examines the pathways between commute satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction, satisfaction with other life domains, and subjective well-being components – life satisfaction, affect, and eudaimonia. Data are obtained through a survey in the city region of Oslo, Norway and are analyzed with structural equation modeling. Findings show that commute satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction are all significantly associated with subjective well-being. Commute satisfaction was found to be linked to subjective well-being indirectly, mainly via neighborhood satisfaction and job satisfaction. Neighborhood satisfaction was found to relate to subjective well-being directly, but also indirectly via personal relationships satisfaction, housing satisfaction, and leisure satisfaction. Housing satisfaction was found to have a significant direct association with subjective well-being. These findings suggest that commute satisfaction, neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction are reliable indicators of urban livability. Consolidating these indicators provides a platform for future measurements of urban quality of life for research as well as public policy purposes.

Highlights

Achieving high subjective well-being is recognized as one of the main personal goals in life, but has emerged as a major goal for public policy (Diener et al, 2009; Dolan and White, 2007; OECD, 2013; Stiglitz et al, 2009; Veenhoven et al, 2004)
Among life domains on neigh borhood, housing, and commute, it is neighborhood satisfaction and housing satisfaction that have the strongest correlations with subjective well-being measures, followed by emotional response to neighborhood, and commute satisfaction
Commute satisfaction is found to have no direct effect on life satisfaction and to contribute to life satisfaction only in directly via its positive effects on neighborhood satisfaction, job sa tisfaction, leisure satisfaction, housing satisfaction, and personal relationships satisfaction

Summary

Introduction

Achieving high subjective well-being is recognized as one of the main personal goals in life, but has emerged as a major goal for public policy (Diener et al, 2009; Dolan and White, 2007; OECD, 2013; Stiglitz et al, 2009; Veenhoven et al, 2004). Neighborhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction can be considered urban livability indicators assessing distinct aspects of urban life: the commute, the neighborhood, and the dwelling (Davis and Fine-Davis, 1991; Ettema et al, 2011; Howley et al, 2009; Kovacs-Györi et al, 2019). The theoretical underpinning of using these three measures is their possible function as mediators between the characteristics of the urban environment and subjective well-being. In other words, both objective and perceived characteristics of the urban environment may influence domain satisfactions such as commute satisfaction, neigh borhood satisfaction, and housing satisfaction, thereby influencing subjective well-being (Campbell et al, 1976; Marans, 2003)

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