The Monitoring System on Quality of Life of the City of Porto

Abstract

Since 2001, an observatory on urban quality of life has been operating in the city of Porto based on objective statistical data but also on data concerning citizens’ perceptions and satisfaction levels about their personal and collective well-being. This project was conceived and designed by the municipality with the support of the University of Porto to foster informed public awareness and political choices. A group of about 30 public and private institutions form a collaborative network that supports this project through the regular supply of quantitative information.

In 10 years of continuous work it has been possible to develop a learning process concerning QOL conceptualization and assessment at the local level. Keeping its original objective of contributing to improve the way city progress is measured, the project is presently assuming new challenges. One of these challenges is to define and evaluate QOL disparities at the neighbourhood scale, a vital and complementary input towards an open dialogue and research about community QOL issues.

CEF.UP – Center for Economics and Finance at University of Porto – is supported by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal.

Appendices

Appendices

Appendix A – MSUQL Quantitative Indicators

Domain	Theme	Indicator
Environment	Green spaces	Public green areas
		Extension of streets with trees
	Climate	Days with rainfall
		Average hours of sunshine per day
		Average temperature of the coldest month
		Average temperature of the hottest month
	Noise	Population exposed to noise levels over 55 dB(A) at night
		Complaints lodged at the PCC due to noise
	Air quality	Days with good or very good air quality index
		Days with exceedance of PM10
	Water	Records of good bathing water quality
		Domestic water consumption
		Treated wastewater
	Energy	Domestic electric power consumption
		Buses using alternative energy
	Waste management	Recoverable municipal solid waste
Collective material conditions	Cultural facilities	Public libraries
		Art galleries and other exhibition spaces
		Museums
	Sports facilities	Multisport centres
		Swimming pools
		Other sports facilities
		Extension of bike lanes
	Educational facilities	Primary and secondary education schools
		Pre-school education institutions
	Social and health facilities	Capacity of nurseries
		Capacity of residential homes, day centres and home care services
		Hospital beds
		Primary care centres and units
		Doctors
		Primary care centre patients without a family doctor
	Built environment	Buildings licensed for rebuilding
		Revitalized public space
	Mobility	Average speed of individual transport
		Average speed of public transport
		Passengers of public transport
		Parking lot places
	Retailing and services	Commercial retail establishments
		Support services for the population
		Hotels and restaurants
Economic conditions	Income and consumption	Average monthly income
		Ratio between the 90th and the 10th percentile of average monthly income
		Disability and survivor pensioners
		Beneficiaries of Social Integration Income
		Purchases via automated teller machines (ATM)
		Passenger vehicles
		Pay TV subscribers
	Labour market	Private employment
		Employees with higher education
		Tertiary employment in knowledge-intensive services
		Unemployed enrolled in Employment Centres
	Housing market	Average cost of purchase
		Average cost of rent
	Economic dynamism	Variation of business establishments
		Variation of turnover of companies located in the municipality
		Variation of fuel sales
		Variation of total municipal expenditure
		Variation of nights in hotels
		Variation of passengers on commercial flights
Society	Population	Live births
		Population aging
		Foreign population who have applied for resident status
	Education	Higher education students (1st and 2nd cycles)
		Postgraduate students
		Retention and dropout rates in secondary education
	Cultural dynamics	Cultural events
		Temporary exhibitions
		Museum visitors
	Civic participation	Voters who have exercised their right to vote in the last four elections
		Women elected to municipal bodies
		Regular volunteers
		Cultural, recreational and sports associations
	Heath	Early mortality
		Mortality from circulatory diseases
		Incidence of notifiable diseases
		Live births to teenage mothers
		Suicides
	Safety	Criminality
		Road accidents with dead or seriously injured persons
	Information Society	Families with computer
		Families with internet access

Appendix B – Invited Presentations of the MSUQL Project

Year	Invited presentations	Location
2003	Policy Working Group on Urban Research Meeting	Brussels
2003	X Conference of the Portuguese Association for Regional Development (APDR)	Évora
2003	Policy Working Group on Urban Research Meeting	Porto
2003	Eurocities – Annual General Meeting	Porto
2004	Seminar at the Master in Public Health, University of Porto	Porto
2004	Strategic Reflexion Meeting – Porto City and Region	Porto
2004	Working Group – Cities of Porto and Lyon	Lyon
2005	Intensive Seminars – Portuguese Catholic University	Braga
2005	Globalcity conference	Cannes
2006	Eurocities – Social Affairs Forum	Porto
2007	Seminar at the ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon	Lisboa
2008	Seminar at the University of Aveiro	Aveiro
2010	Seminar at the Institute of Public Health, University of Porto	Porto
2011	City of Helsinki Urban Facts’ Centenary Conference	Helsinki