Urbanization and Subjective Well-Being
Camilla Lenzi and Giovanni Perucca
Abstract This chapter proposes a review of the most recent works developed by the
authors on the association between urbanization and subjective well-being. While
most previous studies point out a strong dichotomy between urban and rural areas,
the latter being characterized by higher levels of well-being than the former, the
research program presented here aims at overcoming this perspective. Specifically,
it focuses on three elements that are assumed to influence the role of urbanization on
subjective well-being: the nature of externalities generated by cities of different kinds,
the spatial accessibility to these externalities and the temporal dimension. Empirical
results show that all these factors are important determinants of individuals’ wellbeing, whose association with urbanization is more complex than generally assumed.
Keywords Subjective well-being · Urbanization · European regions
1 Introduction
The investigation of the determinants of human well-being has always been one of
the main scopes of economic theory. The definition of well-being itself, however,
evolved over time. Purely economic measures, mostly represented by income growth,
have been progressively integrated by other indicators of quality of life which, taken
together, contribute to the individual’s self-perception and overall well-being (Stiglitz
et al. 2009). While political interest in this issue is relatively recent (Veneri 2019), it
is rooted in a scientific debate dating back at least to the seminal work of Easterlin
(1973).
Easterlin’s contribution was particularly influential because, for the first time,
it pointed out a tension between objective (economic) and subjective well-being
(SWB), where the latter is typically measured by survey studies asking respondents
about their satisfaction with life. This result, labelled as the Easterlin paradox, was in
C. Lenzi · G. Perucca (B)
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: giovanni.perucca@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_3
21
Camilla Lenzi and Giovanni Perucca
Abstract This chapter proposes a review of the most recent works developed by the
authors on the association between urbanization and subjective well-being. While
most previous studies point out a strong dichotomy between urban and rural areas,
the latter being characterized by higher levels of well-being than the former, the
research program presented here aims at overcoming this perspective. Specifically,
it focuses on three elements that are assumed to influence the role of urbanization on
subjective well-being: the nature of externalities generated by cities of different kinds,
the spatial accessibility to these externalities and the temporal dimension. Empirical
results show that all these factors are important determinants of individuals’ wellbeing, whose association with urbanization is more complex than generally assumed.
Keywords Subjective well-being · Urbanization · European regions
1 Introduction
The investigation of the determinants of human well-being has always been one of
the main scopes of economic theory. The definition of well-being itself, however,
evolved over time. Purely economic measures, mostly represented by income growth,
have been progressively integrated by other indicators of quality of life which, taken
together, contribute to the individual’s self-perception and overall well-being (Stiglitz
et al. 2009). While political interest in this issue is relatively recent (Veneri 2019), it
is rooted in a scientific debate dating back at least to the seminal work of Easterlin
(1973).
Easterlin’s contribution was particularly influential because, for the first time,
it pointed out a tension between objective (economic) and subjective well-being
(SWB), where the latter is typically measured by survey studies asking respondents
about their satisfaction with life. This result, labelled as the Easterlin paradox, was in
C. Lenzi · G. Perucca (B)
Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering—ABC Department, Politecnico di
Milano, Milan, Italy
e-mail: giovanni.perucca@polimi.it
© The Author(s) 2020
S. Della Torre et al. (eds.), Regeneration of the Built Environment
from a Circular Economy Perspective, Research for Development,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-33256-3_3
21