Happiness and the city: An empirical study of the interaction between subjective well-being and city satisfaction

This paper aims to introduce and apply an assessment method designed to measure city satisfaction in relation to the subjective perception of individual well-being.

A structural model of residential satisfaction assessment is developed. To test the model, the authors have carried out an empirical research study, using a representative sample (1,636 respondents) of the residents of Perm, a large Russian city.

This study demonstrates both the direct and indirect influence of satisfaction with urban services, respondents’ individual characteristics, life satisfaction and happiness on overall city satisfaction. Moreover, this study attempts to explore the causality between subjective well-being and city satisfaction.

The empirical research is limited to the one-city case.

This study aimed to provide local policy makers with a more refined tool for decision-making in urban policy, which could be of great importance as far as the city authorities need to set up priorities in urban management, especially under the pressure of limited budgets.

The results allow for the illustration of the cumulative and hierarchical nature of city satisfaction and highlight the relation of various life and urban domains and their influence on happiness, life satisfaction and city satisfaction.