1887

OECD Regional Development Papers

Papers from the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities of the OECD cover a full range of topics including regional statistics and analysis, urban governance and economics, rural governance and economics, and multi-level governance. Depending on the programme of work, the papers can cover specific topics such as regional innovation and networks, sustainable development, the determinants of regional growth or fiscal consolidation at the subnational level.

English

Life satisfaction along the urban-rural continuum

A global assessment

This paper assesses differences in life satisfaction along the urban-rural continuum in 111 countries across all world regions. It combines survey data with a consistent definition of settlements to maximise international comparability. Globally, once controlled for individual characteristics, life satisfaction in cities is slightly higher than in rural areas, although the difference decreases with development levels and disappears for high-income countries. Among the factors associated with such differences are city-rural gaps in reported health problems, in physical infrastructure (built-up area), in expectations for future economic conditions, as well as in perceived housing affordability. Finally, we show that life satisfaction also varies by city size. Globally, large cities between one and five million inhabitants drive the observed city-premium but stark heterogeneity exists across income levels. Residents in large metropolises over five million inhabitants report the highest and lowest life satisfaction in low- and high- income countries, respectively.

English

Keywords: well-being, rural areas, city size, life satisfaction, Urban, Cities
JEL: R10: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / General Regional Economics / General; R13: Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics / General Regional Economics / General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
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