The city and quality of life (original) (raw)

Regional Studies, 2022

Abstract

In the last decades cities have been affected by dramatic changes due to the so-called megatrends such as globalization, digitalization, climate change and resource scarcity. Such transformations have been accompanied by structural changes moving resources from traditional low-productivity activities to modern, more productive industries. These phenomena are challenges cities have to face and involve a growing number of people over time. Indeed, the proportion of the population living in urban areas is dramatically rising. Since 2007, more than half of the total population worldwide has been located in cities, and in 2050, 70% of the total population is expected to live in urban areas. In this constantly changing world, the elements determining quality of life are also changing.Many definitions of quality of life have been proposed in the social sciences. InThe City and Quality of Life, Peter Karl Kresl highlights the evolution of the concept of quality of life over time in accordance with the evolution of the economy. He looks at this ever-changing world focusing on quality of life in contemporary cities. Cities are drawn as places that must be able to keep up with the times if theywant to be competitive and attract people looking for a better life. Chapter 2, a survey of previous studies, shows how variables used to assess urban quality of life have changed over time. Items related to environment and climate conditions have been replaced by diversity, creativity and local culture. All these elements are important in determining the quality of life of a particular subgroup of citizens composed of highly skilled, highly mobile, ambitious and, often, family-oriented younger workers. Kresl focuses on them since they are central to today’s economy of knowledge and advanced technology. Well-paid young workers have different needs and behaviours in their daily life in comparison with workers employed in the former traditional economy based on manufacturing sector. Cities that want to take charge of its future development and the nature of its future economy have to valorize aspects of city life and structures that have the power to attract and retain the categories of workers who contribute to the development of the dominant economy. The capacity of cities to attract high-skilled workers is related to the city’s competitiveness. Kresl explains the notion of urban competitiveness, pointing out the differences with the notion of competitiveness of a firm. Quality of life is basically viewed as a determinant of urban competitiveness. The next step for the author is to examine the impact of quality of life on the nature and structure of a city’s economy. The evolution of both goes hand in hand. A dominant economy has evolved from manufacturing to retail and services to advanced technology. The labour force has changed accordingly. Quality of life has changed as well. One chapter is devoted to demographic aspects in relation to the quality of life. Some of them, such as migration, religion and sexual identification, can cause conflict and tensions within the city’s residents. This, in turn, has a negative impact on the quality of life of residents. Kresl emphasizes the important role that the political system could play putting in place public policies to curb discrimination with regard to race, religion and sexual preferences, as well as anti-immigration sentiment. The benefits of such policies – also in terms of a better quality of life – would go beyond cities’ boundaries to spread to the whole country. Other demographic issues related to population growth and population size lead the author to wonder about the optimal city size and its relationship to the quality of life. As Kresl points out, different optimal city sizes have been suggested by economists who analyse the effects of economies of agglomeration, economies of scale, effects of diversity, availability of public and other services. On the contrary, an optimal city size for quality of life has never been identified. Cities of all sizes are potentially fine. Individuals choose a living and working arrangement according to their personal preferences in order to maximize their quality of life. In the last part of the book, Kresl focuses on amenities as determinants of urban quality of life. The amenities are location-specific characteristics with positive or negative effects on an individual’s utility. A general consensus exists within the economic literature on urban quality of life about the types of amenities that are most important to household location decision and quality of life. Theory suggests that amenities should be measured in a way that fully captures how consumers view them. Objective measures are clearly the easiest to obtain. Kresl select eight amenities central to a city’s quality of life. However, the impact of an amenity on quality of life is not the same for all residents. The impact can be dramatically different depending on the…

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