The Relationship between Land Use Factors and Feeling of Happiness at the Neighbourhood Level
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 33090
The Relationship between Land Use Factors and Feeling of Happiness at the Neighbourhood Level

Authors: M. Moeinaddini, Z. Asadi-Shekari, Z. Sultan, M. Zaly Shah

Abstract:

Happiness can be related to everything that can provide a feeling of satisfaction or pleasure. This study tries to consider the relationship between land use factors and feeling of happiness at the neighbourhood level. Land use variables (beautiful and attractive neighbourhood design, availability and quality of shopping centres, sufficient recreational spaces and facilities, and sufficient daily service centres) are used as independent variables and the happiness score is used as the dependent variable in this study. In addition to the land use variables, socio-economic factors (gender, race, marital status, employment status, education, and income) are also considered as independent variables. This study uses the Oxford happiness questionnaire to estimate happiness score of more than 300 people living in six neighbourhoods. The neighbourhoods are selected randomly from Skudai neighbourhoods in Johor, Malaysia. The land use data were obtained by adding related questions to the Oxford happiness questionnaire. The strength of the relationship in this study is found using generalised linear modelling (GLM). The findings of this research indicate that increase in happiness feeling is correlated with an increasing income, more beautiful and attractive neighbourhood design, sufficient shopping centres, recreational spaces, and daily service centres. The results show that all land use factors in this study have significant relationship with happiness but only income, among socio-economic factors, can affect happiness significantly. Therefore, land use factors can affect happiness in Skudai more than socio-economic factors.

Keywords: Neighbourhood land use, neighbourhood design, happiness, socio-economic factors, generalised linear modelling.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1317232

Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 713

References:


[1] Helliwell, J. F., Layard, R., Sachs, J. (2015). Setting the Stage. In J. F. Helliwell, R. Layard, J. Sachs (Eds.), World Happiness Report 2015. New York City, US: Columbia University.
[2] Tokuda, Y., Inoguchi, T. (2008). Interpersonal mistrust and unhappiness among Japanese people. Social Indicators Research, 89, 349-360.
[3] Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, A., Von Berlepsch, V. (2012). Social Capital and Individual Happiness in Europe. Bruges European Economic Research Papers: Department of European Economic Studies.
[4] Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being, Journal of Economic Psychology 29, 94–122.
[5] Radwan, M.F. (2014). The Psychology of Attraction Explained: Understand what attracts people to each other. Create Space: Independent Publishing Platform.
[6] Ferreira, S. Moro, M. (2010). On the use of subjective well-being data for environmental valuation. Environmental and Resource Economics, 46(3), 249–273.
[7] Savageau, D. (2007). Places rated Almanac. Washington, DC: Places Rated Books LLC.
[8] Ballas, D., Dorling, D. (2013). The geography of happiness. In S. David, I. Boniwell, A. Conley Ayers (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of happiness. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
[9] Marans, R.W., Stimson, R.J. (2011). An Overview of Quality of Urban Life in R.W. Marans, R.J. Stimson (Eds.), Investigating quality of urban life: Theory, Methods, and Empirical Research. New York City, US: Springer.
[10] Gowdy, J. (2005). Toward a new welfare economics for sustainability. Ecological Economics, 53(2), 211–222.
[11] Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being, Journal of Economic Psychology 29, 94–122.
[12] Welsch, H. Kühling, J. (2009). Using happiness data for environmental valuation: Issues and applications. Journal of Economic Surveys, 23, 385-406
[13] MacKerron, G. Mourato, S. (2009). Life satisfaction and air quality in London. Ecological Economics, 68, 1441–1453.
[14] Menz, T., Welsch, H., (2010). Population aging and environmental in OECD countries: The case of air pollution. Ecological Economics, 69(12), 2582–2589.
[15] Maddison, D. Rehdanz, K. (2011). The impact of climate on life satisfaction. Ecological Economics, 70, 2437-2445.
[16] Raphael, D., Renwick, R., Brown, I., Steinmetz, B., Sehdev, H. Phillips, S. (2001). Making the links between community structure and individual well-being: Community quality of life in Riverdale, Toronto, Canada. Health and Place, 7, 179-196.
[17] Berry, B., Okulicz-Kozaryn, A. (2009). Dissatisfaction with City Life: A New Look at Some Old Questions. Cities, 26, 117-124.
[18] Booth M. Z., Sheehan, H. C. (2008). Perceptions of people and place: Young adolescents’ interpretation of their schools in the United States and the United Kingdom. Journal of Adolescent Research, 23(6), 722-744.
[19] Cramer, V., Torgersen, S., Kringlen, E. (2003). Quality of life in a city: The effects of population density. Social Indicators Research, 69, 103-116.
[20] Delken, E. (2008). Happiness in shrinking cities in Germany. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 213-218.
[21] Scoppa, V., Ponzo, M. (2008). An empirical study of happiness in Italy. The Berkeley Electronic Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy, 8(1), 1-21.
[22] Solano, A. C., Morales, J. F. D. (2002). Life goals and life satisfaction in Spanish and Argentine adolescents from rural and urban settings. Psicothema, 14(1), 112-117.
[23] Morrison, P. (2007). Subjective wellbeing and the city. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 31, 74-103.
[24] Ballas, D., Dorling, D. (2007). Measuring the impact of major life events upon happiness. International Journal of Epidemiology, 36, 1244–1252.
[25] Marshall, A. Jivraj, S. Nazroo, J. Tampubolon, G. Vanhoutte, B. (2014). Does the level of wealth inequality within an area influence the prevalence of depression amongst older people? Health and Place 27, 194–204.
[26] Menz, T. (2011). Do people habituate to air pollution? Evidence from international life satisfaction data. Ecological Economics, 71, 211-219.
[27] Welsch, H. Kühling, J. (2009). Using happiness data for environmental valuation: Issues and applications. Journal of Economic Surveys, 23, 385-406
[28] Hartig, T., Van Den Berg, A., Hagerhall, C. M., Tomalak, M., Bauer, N., Hansmann, R., Ojala, A., Syngollitou, E., Carrus, G., van Herzele, A., Bell, S., Podesta, M. T. C., Waseth, G. (2010). Health benefits of nature experience: Psychological, social and cultural processes. In K. Nilsson, M. Sangster, C. Gallis, T. Hartig, S. de Vries, K. Seeland, J. Schipperijn (Eds.), Forests, Trees and Human Health. New York City, US: Springer.
[29] Moeinaddini, M., Asadi-Shekari, Z., Ismail, C. R., Zaly Shah, M. (2013). A Practical Method for Evaluating Parking Area Level of Service. Land Use Policy, 33, 1-10.
[30] Moeinaddini, M., Asadi-Shekari, Z., Zaly Shah, M. (2014b). Analyzing the Relationship between Park-and-Ride Facilities and Private Motorized Trips Indicators. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 39(5), 3481-3488.
[31] Moeinaddini, M., Asadi-Shekari, Z., Zaly Shah, M. (2015b). An Urban Mobility Index for Evaluating and Reducing Private Motorized Trips. Measurement, 63, 30-40.
[32] Asadi-Shekari, Z., Moeinaddini, M., Zaly Shah, M. (2013a). Disabled pedestrian level of service method for evaluating and promoting inclusive walking facilities on urban streets. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 139, 181–192.
[33] Asadi-Shekari, Z., Moeinaddini, M., Zaly Shah, M. (2013b). Non-motorised Level of Service: Addressing Challenges in Pedestrian and Bicycle Level of Service. Transport Reviews, 33, 166–194.
[34] Asadi-Shekari, Z., Moeinaddini, M., Zaly Shah, M.(2014). A pedestrian level of service method for evaluating and promoting walking facilities on campus streets. Land Use Policy, 38, 175-193.
[35] Asadi-Shekari, Z., Moeinaddini, M., Zaly Shah, M. (2015a) A Bicycle Safety Index for Evaluating Urban Street Facilities. Traffic Injury Prevention, 16, 283-288.
[36] Asadi-Shekari, Z., Moeinaddini, M., Zaly Shah, M. (2015b). Pedestrian Safety Index for Evaluating Street Facilities in Urban Areas. Safety Science, 74, 1-14.
[37] Asadi-Shekari, Z., Moeinaddini, M., Sultan, Z., Zaly Shah, M., Hamzah, A. (2015c). The Relationship between Street Network Morphology and Percentage of Daily Trips on Foot and by Bicycle at the City-Level. JurnalTeknologi, 76 (14), 23-28.
[38] Hills, P., Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: a compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073–1082.
[39] Hills, P., Argyle, M. (1998). Positive moods derived from leisure and their relationship to happiness and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 25 (3), 523-535.
[40] Hadayeghi, A. (2009). Use of Advanced Techniques to Estimate Zonal Level Safety Planning Models and Examine Their Temporal Transferability. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto (Doctor of Philosophy).
[41] Moeinaddini, M., Asadi-Shekari, Z., Zaly Shah, M. (2014a). The Relationship between Urban Street Networks and the Number of Transport Fatalities at the City Level. Safety Science, 62, 114-120.
[42] Moeinaddini, M., Asadi-Shekari, Z., Sultan, Z., Zaly Shah, M. (2015a). Analyzing the Relationships between the Number of Deaths in Road Accidents and the Work Travel Mode Choice at the City Level. Safety Science, 72, 249–254.
[43] Frey, B. S., Stutzer, A. (2002). Happiness and economics. Princeton, US: Princeton University Press.
[44] Clark, A., Frijters, P., Shields, M. (2008). Relative income, happiness, and utility: An explanation for the Easterlin paradox and other puzzles. Journal of Economic Literature, 46(1), 95- 144.
[45] Ahuvia, A. C. (2007). Wealth, consumption and happiness. In A. Lewis (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of psychology and economic behaviour. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
[46] Ahuvia, A. C., Friedman, D. (1998). Income, consumption, and subjective well-being: Toward a composite macromarketing model. Journal of Macromarketing, 18, 153–168.
[47] Diener, E., Biswas-Diener, R. (2002). Will money increase subjective well-being? A literature review and guide to needed research. Social Indicators Research, 57, 119–169.
[48] Layard, R. (2005). Happiness: Lessons form a new science. London, UK: Penguin Press.
[49] Blanchflower, D. G., Oswald, A. J. (2004). Well-being over time in Britain and the USA. Journal of Public Economics, 88, 1359–1386.
[50] Stutzer, A. (2004). The role of income aspirations in individual happiness. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation, 54, 89–109.
[51] Fahey, T., Smyth, E. (2004). Do subjective indicators measure welfare? Evidence from 33 European societies. European Societies, 6(1), 5–27.
[52] Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2005). Income and well-being: An empirical analysis of the comparison income effect. Journal of Public Economics, 89, 997–1019.
[53] Flouri, E. (2004). Subjective well-being in midlife: The role of involvement of and closeness to parents in childhood. Journal of Happiness Studies, 5, 335-358.
[54] Di Tella, R., MacCulloch, R., Oswald, A. (2001). Preferences over inflation and unemployment. Evidence from surveys of happiness. The American Economic Review, 91(1), 335–341.
[55] Frey, B. S., Stutzer, A. (2000). Happiness, economy and institutions. The Economic Journal, 110, 918–938.
[56] Helliwell, J. F. (2003). How’s life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. Economic Modelling, 20, 331–360.
[57] Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., Gowdy, J. M. (2007). Environmental degradation and happiness. Ecological Economics, 60(3), 509–516.
[58] Baker, L. A., Cahalin, L. P., Gerst, K., Burr, J. A. (2005). Productive activities and subjective well-being among older adults: The influence of number of activities and time commitment. Social Indicators Research, 73, 431–458.
[59] Haworth, J. T. (1997). Work, leisure and well-being. London/New York: Routledge.
[60] Trenberth, L., Dewe, P., Walkey, F. (1999). Leisure and its role as a strategy for coping with work stress. International Journal of Stress Management, 6 (2), 89-103.
[61] Ragheb, M. G. (1993). Leisure and perceived wellness: A field investigation. Leisure Sciences, 75 (1), 13-24.
[62] Dowall, J., Bolter, C., Flett, R., Kammann, R. (1988). Psychological well-being and its relationship to fitness and activity levels. Journal of Human Movement Studies, 14 (1), 39-45.
[63] Lloyd, K., Auld, C. J. (2002). The role of leisure in determining quality of life: Issues of content and measurement. Social Indicators Research, 57 (1), 43-71.
[64] Wankel, L., Berger, B. (1990). The psychological and social benefits of sport and physical activity. Journal of Leisure Research, 22 (2), 167-182.
[65] Baldwin, K., Tinsley, H. (1988).An investigation of the validity of Tinsley and Tinsley’s (1986) theory of leisure experience. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 35 (3), 263-267.