Sustainable Quality of Life: A Conceptualization That Integrates the Views of Inhabitants of Swiss Rural Regions

Thea Xenia Wiesli, Ulf Liebe, Thomas Hammer and Roger Bär
Additional contact information
Thea Xenia Wiesli: Centre for Development and Environment CDE, University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Ulf Liebe: Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Social Sciences Building, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Thomas Hammer: Centre for Development and Environment CDE, University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Roger Bär: Centre for Development and Environment CDE, University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: In most socioeconomically wealthy countries, a high quality of life is associated with a high consumption of natural resources. It is, therefore, essential to define what constitutes sustainable quality of life—that is, quality of life that is simultaneously high as well as ecologically and socially sustainable. This issue was addressed in a study on the promotion of sustainable quality of life in rural regions of Switzerland. We interviewed 90 people with the intention of developing a concept of sustainable quality of life. The concept that emerged from our research consists of nine components: social relations and equality; nature and landscape; education and knowledge; participation, identification, and collective emotions; living; mobility; health and safety; leisure and recreation; and income and employment . Each component is formulated in an integrated way, combining social, environmental, and personal aspects. The concept provides a basis for managing regional development and promoting sustainable quality of life in rural areas. In this regard, we propose starting points in the areas of social relations and equality, nature and landscape, and education and knowledge.

Keywords: quality of life; well-being; sustainability; rural regions; regional development; Switzerland; Europe (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)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/9187/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/16/9187/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:16:p:9187-:d:615334

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().