The Importance of Water and Climate-Related Aspects in the Quality of Urban Life Assessment

Agnieszka Ptak-Wojciechowska, Anna Januchta-Szostak, Agata Gawlak and Magda Matuszewska
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Agnieszka Ptak-Wojciechowska: Faculty of Architecture, Poznan University of Technology, 61-131 Poznan, Poland
Anna Januchta-Szostak: Institute of Architecture and Physical Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Poznan University of Technology, 61-131 Poznan, Poland
Agata Gawlak: Institute of Architecture, Urban Planning and Heritage Protection, Faculty of Architecture, Poznan University of Technology, 61-131 Poznan, Poland
Magda Matuszewska: Institute of Architecture, Urban Planning and Heritage Protection, Faculty of Architecture, Poznan University of Technology, 61-131 Poznan, Poland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-24

Abstract: Global challenges such as urbanization, aging societies, climate change, and environmental and water crises are becoming increasingly important in terms of the impact they might have on the quality of life (QoL) in cities. Appraisal instruments for QoL assessment, such as rankings and guides, should therefore include these aspects. The aim of this research was to verify the significance of water and climate-related aspects in assessment tools. A comparative analysis of 24 selected QoL assessment tools shows to what extent these aspects are included in the domains, criteria, and indicators proposed in the instruments. The method of verification is a comparison of the position of winning cities in QoL rankings and city resilience rankings. The results show that water and climate-related aspects are still underestimated in the QoL rankings and guides, and only a few cities with the highest quality of life ranked highly in sustainability and climate resiliency ratings. Our results suggest that the tools for the evaluation and comparison of cities need remodeling, taking into account the most important global risks and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in order to create aging-friendly and climate-neutral cities.

Keywords: aging societies; appraisal instruments; blue-green infrastructure; quality of life (QoL); livability; climate resilience; water in cities; urban environments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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