Do We Live Where It Is Pleasant? Correlates of Perceived Pleasantness with Socioeconomic Variables

João Monteiro (), Ana Clara Carrilho, Nuno Sousa, Leise Kelli de Oliveira, Eduardo Natividade-Jesus and João Coutinho-Rodrigues
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João Monteiro: Research Center for Territory, Transports and Environment (CITTA), 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Ana Clara Carrilho: Department of Transportation and Geotechnical Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
Nuno Sousa: Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers of Coimbra (INESCC), 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal
Leise Kelli de Oliveira: Department of Transportation and Geotechnical Engineering, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, Brazil
Eduardo Natividade-Jesus: Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers of Coimbra (INESCC), 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal
João Coutinho-Rodrigues: Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers of Coimbra (INESCC), 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Living in urban areas is the wish of many people. However, with population growth in those areas, quality of life has become a concerning element for achieving sustainable cities. Because quality of life is influenced by the built environment, the state of the latter is a fundamental issue for public policies. This research expands on previous research on the perceived pleasantness of built environments by presenting a large-scale case study of the urban layout pleasantness in the central area of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a typical global south city, and correlating pleasantness scores with socioeconomic factors to understand whether people do in fact live where the urban layout is more pleasant and how pleasantness and socioeconomic factors relate and contribute to one’s choice of living location. A comparison with the city of Coimbra, Portugal, representative of the global north, was also carried out. The findings showed that pleasantness tended to correlate negatively with urban density and positively with income. Possible explanations for these results and their generality are advanced.

Keywords: urban environment; urban pleasantness; socioeconomic factors; global south; global north (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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