Determinants of Urban Wellbeing

As a prologue to a new study of wellbeing among working-age city residents, this presentation examines the determinants of urban dwellers' social, physical, and psychological wellbeing. Existing research suggests that environmental factors, community factors, and access to certain kinds of amenities like health care facilities and grocery stores are all generally accepted as important elements that partly determine city dwellers' physical and mental wellbeing. Relatively less is known about short- and medium- term effects of elements of urban life like neighborhood disputes, city service provision, and community events such as professional sports and festivals. We seek to understand how these and other determinants of wellbeing can be modeled to better understand the changing quality of life experienced by city dwellers.