BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE & LIVEABLE HONG KONG Measuring Well-being

Transcription

1 BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE & LIVEABLE HONG KONG Measuring Well-being Civic Exchange Seminar 27 July, 2015

2 MEASURING WELL-BEING DEFINING WELL-BEING Well-being The most harmonious & satisfactory state of being & refers to human beings comfort, health & happiness in relation to their environment (1). Dimensions examined include: personal well-being such as self-esteem, life satisfaction and education; public well-being such as community trust & belonging, living standards & democratic engagement. Quality of Life The good life (2) excellence or satisfactory character of life (3). Focuses on factors affecting the individual, with objective measures like the number of sunny days/year, to represent life quality. Quality of life indicators, e.g. happy life years & healthy life expectancy (Happy Planet Index).

3 MEASURING WELL-BEING DEFINING WELL-BEING Liveability The habitability of a place, neighbourhood, city or nation. Measures the degree to which its provisions & requirements fit with the needs and capacities of its citizens (4). Happiness Asks whether a person feels happy, such as short-term moods of gaiety and elation, or in relation to how satisfied or contented one is with life at the moment. Characterises the quality of a whole human life, or being happy, which encapsulates the entire scope of human needs, desires and interests, and whether they constitute a harmonious whole (5).

4 MEASURING WELL-BEING DEFINING WELL-BEING Progress Improvements in the sustainable and equitable well-being of society (6). Assesses progress towards the achievement of desired social outcomes (7). The two components of the definition are intended to show: a) equity and b) sustainability. Sustainability Development that improves the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems (8). Some sustainability indices focus entirely on environmental quality, e.g. Environmental Performance Index. Others use the environment as the ceiling for which GDP growth can no longer bring about well-being, e.g. Genuine Progress Indicator.

5 MEASURING WELL-BEING DEFINING WELL-BEING Prosperity About things going well for us: in accordance with our hopes and expectations (9). About delivering economic growth (by sustaining GDP), but it also has vital social and psychological dimensions, which refers to the ability to participate meaningfully in the life of society. Key characteristics include: - A notion of continuity - Link between the prosperity of self and others - An intergenerational dimension that the pursuit of the good life today can erode the basis for well-being tomorrow (10).

6 MEASURING WELL-BEING DEFINING WELL-BEING How would you define well-being?

7 MEASURING WELL-BEING DIFFERENT APPROACHES Human Development Emphasises the fulfilment of human potential as the end goal of development (11). Envisions quality of life as having the opportunity to build positive human capabilities for fulfilling our human potential (12). UNDP s HDI, UN Habitat Programme s Global Urban Indicators Database, ADB s Cities Data Book. City Competition Aims to uncover the best places for expatriates to live. Quality of life & liveability: elements of a city s economic competitiveness (13). Lifestyle factors are important to a city s quality of life (14). Mercer Quality of Living Survey, EIU s Liveability Rankings, Monocle s Most Liveable Cities Index. City Planning Focuses on the quality of the built environment. Seldom compares cities, but rather at the neighbourhood level. No generally accepted indices of urban quality, but MANY scoring & ranking tools to evaluate urban areas. Satisfaction Research Defines quality of life as a subjective sense of well-being. Assesses respondents self-reported well-being (happiness or life satisfaction). Cultural norms affect subjective satisfaction levels (15). Gallup World Path & National Accounts of Well-being. Reference: Lai, C. (2012), Measuring Well-being in Cities: A Literature Review, April 2012, Hong Kong: Civic Exchange.

8 MEASURING WELL-BEING DIFFERENT APPROACHES Health-based Encompasses mental, social & physical well-being (16). Income inequality affects personal health & social dysfunctions (17). Environmental quality related to liveability infleunces health (18). Gallup-Healthyways Well-being Index & Australian Unity Well-being Index. Sustainability Envisions human well-being as part of the wider ecosystem, & views the physical, economic, & social domains as interdependent. Involves intergenerational equity. Yale & Columbia U s Environmental Sustainability Index, EIU s Asian Green City Index, Mercer s Eco-city Index, Happy Planet Index, Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare/Genuine Progress Indicator. Reference: Lai, C. (2012), Measuring Well-being in Cities: A Literature Review, April 2012, Hong Kong: Civic Exchange.

9 MEASURING WELL-BEING CIVIC EXCHANGE S WELL-BEING INDEX POWER OF INDICES + CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Identify pressure points where changes to public policy can improve people s well-being

10 MEASURING WELL-BEING CIVIC EXCHANGE S WELL-BEING INDEX TYPICAL INDICES Countries based Western context Index as an end Comparison between or within country PROPOSED INDEX Focus on cities Asian context Index as a means Comparison between AND within cities RATIONALE Lack sufficient data, but highly relevant Fastest growing region, greatest urbanisation To provoke discussions Multi-layer analysis

11 MEASURING WELL-BEING CIVIC EXCHANGE S WELL-BEING INDEX THE INDEX: Measures people s perception about whether different aspects of well-being is realised through a public opinion survey. THE DELIVERABLE: A TOOL KIT that allows cities to use the process to engage their citizenry in dialogues about well-being.

12 MEASURING WELL-BEING IMPLEMENTION Measuring the gap between concern and satisfaction

13 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH ISSUES Medical care Quality of goverment Housing Public safety and crime control Transport and utilities SATISIFICATION RATE CONCERN RATE Recreation and personal time Environmental protection Community and belonging Education Work and business opportunities

14 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH ISSUES How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with each of the following issues? Quality of government Public safety and crime control? Recreation and personal time? Community and belonging? Education? Work and business opportunities? Environmental protection? Transport and utilities in general? How about with the quality and cost of housing in general? How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with medical care in general? Very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% V.Sat Sat Dis V.Dis DK

15 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY PERSONALLY CARE ABOUT ISSUES How much you personally care about each of the following issues? Quality of government? Public safety and crime control? Recreation and personal time? Community and belonging? Education? Work and business opportunities? Environmental protection? Transport and utilities? How about the quality and cost of housing? How about medical care? Do you care a lot, some, not much, or not at all? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% A lot Same Not much Not all DK

16 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY If you could freely choose to live anywhere you wanted, would you: stay in Hong Kong, move away, or don t know? Stay in Hong Kong Move away from Hong Kong Don t know 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

17 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY In Hong Kong in general, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the government s performance in: Collecting taxes fairly and reasonably Setting reasonable tax rates Promoting fair competition Enforcing the law fairly and equally Making decisions transparently Reducing corruption Giving out accurate and trustworthy information Maintaining peace and public safety Carrying out its decisions and policies Delivering basic services, such as garbage collection or fire services? Processing paperwork such as licenses and permits quickly and efficiently Resolving conflicts between citizens Listening to residents views Receiving and resolving complaints? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Sat Dis Don't know

18 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY In general, how much say do Hong Kong residents have in the decisions that affect them? A lot, some, not much, or none at all? A lot Some Not much None at all Don t know 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

19 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY In the past 12 months, have you: Contacted a government official or politician about an issue or problem of any kind? Participated in a public consultation or town hall meeting? Signed a petition, in person or online? Participated in a boycott? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Yes No

20 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY HOUSING SATISFACTION Your housing situation in general? The convenience of your home s location? The size of your home? The quality and comfort of your home? Your overall housing costs? The neighbourhood environment where you live? 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% V. Sat Sat Dis V. Dis DK

21 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY HOUSING SIZE: ROOMS PER PERSON Average Highest 2 Lowest Rooms per person

22 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY How important should the following housing issues be for the government to address? Property prices in Hong Kong Speeding up planning permission for private housing construction Building more subsidised housing Improving the quality and/or size of housing 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Very important Important Not so important Not important at all Don't know

23 WELL-BEING IN HONG KONG SEMINAR ON-SITE SURVEY In your view, which is the most important housing issue for the government to address? Property prices in Hong Kong Speeding up planning permission for private housing construction Building more subsidised housing Improving the quality and/or size of housing 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

24 MEASURING WELL-BEING RESOURCES 6 APPROACHES TO DEVELOPING WELL-BEING INDICES: Human development City competition City planning Satisfaction Health Sustainability Delhi METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN CREATING A NEW INDEX: Choice & number of indicators Relative importance (or weighting) of indicators Geographical scale Data availability REPORT IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT:

25 MEASURING WELL-BEING RESOURCES 164 INDICES (AND GROWING ) Mostly English & Chinese sources ACROSS a broad range of categories: ECONOMIC / ENVIRONMENT / GENDER / GOVERNANCE / HEALTH / POVERTY / QUALITY OF LIFE Delhi CATALOGUE IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT:

26 References (1) Lee, J., Je., H., Byunn, J. (2011), Well-Being index of super tall residential buildings in Korea, Building and Environment, Vol. 46, pp (2) Cheung, C. (1997), Toward a theoretically based measurement model of the good life, Journal of General Psychology, Vol. 158, No. 2, pp (3) Szalai, A. (1980), The meaning of comparative research on the quality of life. In Szalai, A., Andrews, F. (eds.), The Quality of Life, Sage Beverly Hills, CA, pp (4) Veenhoven, R. (1996), Happy Life-Expectancy a comprehensive measure of quality-of-life in nations, Social Indicators Research, Vol. 39, pp (5) Sin, D.C., Inoguchi, T. (2009), Avowed Happiness in Confucian Asian: ascertaining its distribution, patterns and sources, Social Indicator Research, Vol. 923, pp (6) Hall, J. Giovannini, E. Morrone, A., Ranuzzi, G. (2010), A Framework to Measure the Progress of Societies, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Working Paper No. 34. (7) Canadian Index of Wellbeing draft design, < accessed on 27 September, (8) International Union for Conservation of Nature (1980, World Observation Strategy, Geneva. This definition was re-framed to emphasize the social dimension of sustainability across long time frames by the Brundtland Report: Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs and aspirations. World Commission Environment & Development (1987), Brundtland Report. Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

27 References (9) Jackson, T. (2009), Prosperity without Growth: economics for a finite planet, London: Earthscan. (10) Ibid, p.2. (11) UNDP (2010), The human development concept, < accessed on September, (12) Ibid. (13) Rogerson, R. (1998), Quality of life and city competitiveness, Urban Studies, Vol. 36 no.5-6, pp (14) Florida, R. (2004), quoted in McCann, E. (2007), Inequality and politics in the creative city-region: Questions of livability and state strategy, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Vol. 31 no. 1, p (15) Diener, E. (2009), Frequently Answered Questions: A Primer for Reporters and Newcomers, < accessed on 10 September (16) World Health Organization (1946, 2006). Constitution of the World Health Organization, in Basic Documents, 45th edition, Supplement, < accessed on 10 September (17) Wilkinson, R., and K. Pickett (2010), The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone, New York: Bloomsbury Press. Also see < (18) van Kamp, I., et al. (2003), Urban environmental quality and human well-being: Towards a conceptual framework and demarcation of concepts; a literature study, Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 64, pp