Key Messages

The Quality of Life concept

  1. There is a unique opportunity, during this current time of flux encompassing climate change, pandemics and new technology  to review what people see as the most important and valuable elements of their lives.  
  2. Policy makers must ensure that improving the quality of life of residents in a sustainable and inclusive way is at the heart of transformative change.   

The Quality of Life definitions 

  1. A good quality of life can encompass a wide range of elements including strong community & meaningful social relationships, balanced work/leisure, well being and happiness, security and safety, cultural participation, civic engagement, fulfilling employment, good, accessible education/ health systems, decent infrastructure and housing, access to digital technology and sustainable environment standards.  
  2. Definitions of the elements comprising a good quality of life will depend on a wide range of variables including location, age and timeframe. There is no one size fits all.  

Why we need to measure Quality of Life 

  1. Policy makers who understand the centrality of quality of life require reliable, comprehensive subjective an objective data to optimize policies and investments to make people-centric changes. 
  2. Local authorities need to know whether the decisions and policies being implemented are improving the quality of life over time
  3.  The UN Secretary-General has called for a new way to measure progress that values the life and wellbeing of the majority of people.  

Existing Quality of Life-related measurements 

  1. There is no single global index that is universal with a standardized method incorporating a future-focused understanding of quality of life. No quality of life index is aligned with the Global Urban Monitoring Framework (UMF), the key framework endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission for monitoring the development of urban areas and targeted at SDGs.  
  2. There are about 50 global/regional indices that measure some form of QoL. Combined, they show changes in QoL measurements and offer insights into building a globally relevant and locally applicable quality of life index.  

The proposed new Quality of Life Index

  1. The Quality of Life Initiative will be globally relevant, but locally focused, based on the Urban Monitoring Framework and use innovative techniques.  
  2. The Initiative will be an indispensable tool to provide quality data and information combining subjective and objective indicators to measure what matters to people.  
  3. The Index will be a catalyst for accelerating the SDGs and the NUA driving bold, collective policy action and investment to put people at the heart of transformative change and give them a say in their future.  
  4. The Index will be easily understood, trusted and applied by policy makers as it follows broad consultations. It will be a benchmarking tool for subnational governments to use for self-assessment over time.