The Indices of Community Well-Being for Calgary Community Districts: A Neighborhood-Based Approach to Quality of Life Reporting

Abstract

The Indices of Community Well-being is a municipal based indicators system that monitors changes in the well-being of Calgary’s constituent communities (neighborhoods). Initially developed in response to a Council request to review the allocation of Social Services resources, the project has expanded in scope over the past twenty years. These changes have reflected changes in the approach to social services delivery, as well as a growing awareness of the value of community level social data for planning and decision making. As our understanding of, and commitment to, sustainability grows, there are opportunities to further develop this indicators system to integrate with other sustainability initiatives. At the same time, new forms of information dissemination are emerging to satisfy the growing demand for social data. Responding to these opportunities and challenges will provide new directions for innovation for this seminal report.