Master's lecture in Environment and Natural Resources - Emma Njeru

The lecture will be streamed: https://zoom.us/j/6457557654?pwd=UmlISmZ4c1g5TUErSTNyYkEzUVdPUT09

Master's student: Emma Njeru

Title: Urban Form and Subjective Well-Being in the Reykjavík Capital Region: The Impact of the Built, and Social Environment on Individual Life satisfaction, Domain satisfaction, and Social Well-Being

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Faculty: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Advisor: Jukka Heinonen, Professor at the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Also in the masters committee: Michal Czepkiewicz, Post Doc at the Engineering Research Institute and Áróra Árnadóttir, Doctoral student in Environmental Studies

Examiner: Magnús Yngvi Jósefsson, Research Programme Manager at City of Reykjavik, Department of Services and Innovation

Abstract

Previous studies have reported on the effects of dense urban areas on individuals’ subjective well-being in various contextual situations.  However, the impact of the urban form on individual life satisfaction, domain satisfaction, and social well-being has rarely been studied in a context-based case using multi-faceted analysis. This study utilizes a mixed-methods approach to analyze the impact of the urban form on respondents’ subjective and social well-being. A survey of 706 residents living in the Reykjavík metropolitan area measured residents’ subjective well-being. GIS-based urban form measures were calculated within a 1Km buffer around their home. Qualitative analysis of fourteen interviews evaluated respondents’ social well-being in their residential areas. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical regression analyses assessed the physical contextual variables. Participants’ expressed that greenspace access, neighborhood accessibility, and proximity to the city center, as essential factors for their well-being, contrary to the results of the bivariate correlations. Hierarchical regression results indicate that population density within a 1 Km radius negatively affects respondents’ domain satisfaction and social well-being. Furthermore, interviews indicated that place attachment, proximity to cultural and entertainment services, and open space access matter for respondents’ social well-being. Finally, proximity to daily services was beneficial for respondents’ subjective well-being, while the need for privacy and feelings of isolation were negatively associated with well-being due to population density. Findings suggest that planners and designers need to consider both social and residential characteristics when designing for communities in urban and suburban areas.