Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rural–Urban Living and Level of Economic Development as Factors in Subjective Well-Being

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article analyses the combined effect on subjective well-being of rural versus urban environments and a country’s level of economic development. There is a great deal of controversy regarding the subjective well-being of people in different places. Fischer’s works report greater happiness among village inhabitants than among urban residents. However, in ‘Urbanism as a way of life’, Wirth demonstrates the attractiveness of the urban environment in contributing to subjective well-being. Our data set includes 29 countries participating in the 2012 ESS. The results confirm the hypothesis that in wealthier countries, rural living standards are high enough to create a higher level of subjective well-being; while in less developed countries the rural environment cannot compete with urban resources for creating subjective well-being.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In fact, not long ago French President Nicolas Sarkozy organised a commission to study designing another indicator that might better measure well-being in France (Stiglitz et al. 2010).

  2. Tönnies (2004 [1887]) was one of the classic authors that reinforced the idea that city life eroded community ties.

  3. This argument is similar to the de-growth theory developed by Latouche (2006).

  4. For more information on the weighting of the samples used in the ESS, see: www.europeansocialsurvey.org/docs/methodology/ESS_weight_data_1.pdf.

References

  • Adams, R. E. (1992). Is happiness a home in the suburbs? The influence of urban versus suburban neighborhoods on psychological health. Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 353–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amato, P. R., & Zuo, J. (1992). Rural poverty, urban poverty and psychological well-being. The Sociological Quarterly, 33(2), 229–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, R., & Chernova, K. (2008). Absolute income, relative income and happiness. Social Indicators Research, 88, 497–529.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, B. J. L., & Okulicz-Kozaryn, A. (2009). Dissatisfaction with city life: A new look at some old questions. Cities, 26(3), 117–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, B. J. L., & Okulicz-Kozaryn, A. (2011). An urban–rural happiness gradient. Urban geography, 32(6), 871–883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borensztein, E., Mauro, P., Ottaviani, M., & Claessens, S. (2004). The case for GDP-Indexed bonds. Economic Policy, 19(38), 156–216.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borja, J., & Castells, M. (1997). Local and global: The management of cities in the information age. Abingdon: Earthscan Publications Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourke, L., & Geldens, P. M. (2007). Subjective well-being and its measuring for young people in a Rural Australian Center. Social Indicators Research, 82(1), 165–187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castells, M. (2010). The rise of the network society. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ciccone, A., & Hall, R. E. (1996). Productivity and the density of economic activity. The American Economic Review, 86(1), 54–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davey, G., Chen, Z., & Lau, A. (2009). ‘Peace in thatched hut—that is happiness’: Subjective well-being among peasants in rural China. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(2), 239–252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Tella, R., MacCulloch, R., & Oswald, A. (2003). The macroeconomics of happiness. Review of Economics and Statistics, 85, 809–827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E., & Oishi, S. (2000). Money and happiness: Income and subjective well-being across nations. In E. Diener & E. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixit, A. K., & Stiglitz, J. E. (1977). Monopolistic competition and optimum product diversity. The American Economic Review, 67(3), 297–308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. A. (1974). Does economic growth improve the human lot? Some empirical evidence. In P. A. David & M. W. Reder (Eds.), Nations and households in economic growth: Essays in honour of Moses Abramowitz. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. A. (2001). Income and happiness: Towards a unified theory. Economic Journal, 111, 465–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R. A., Angelescu, L., & Zweig, J. S. (2011). The impact of modern economic growth on urban–rural differences in subjective well-being. World Development, 39(12), 2187–2198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, R. J. (2009). A comparison of rural and urban older adults in Iowa on specific markers of successful aging. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 52(4), 423–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, C. S. (1975). Toward a subcultural theory of urbanism. American Journal of Sociology, 80, 1319–1341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, C. S. (1984 [1976]). The urban experience (2nd ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

  • Fischer, C. S., Jackson, R. M., Stueve, C. A., Gerson, K., Jones, L. M., & Baldassare, M. (1977). Networks and places: Social relations in the urban setting. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Florida, R., Mellander, C., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2013). The happiness in cities. Regional Studies, 47(4), 613–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S. (2008). Happiness. A revolution in economics. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2002). Happiness and economics. How the economy and the institutions affect well-being. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garreau, J. (1992). Edge city: Life on the new frontier. New York: Anchor Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Halman, L., & Draulans, V. (2006). How secular is Europe? The British Journal of Sociology, 57(2), 263–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Monetary Fund. (2012). Data and statistics: World Economic Outlook Database, September 2012. Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity per capita. GDP http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?

  • Ivanova, I., Arcelus, F. J., & Srinivasan, G. (1999). An assessment of the measurement properties of the human development index. Social Indicators Research, 46(2), 157–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koopmans, T. A., Geleijnse, J. M., Zitman, F. G., & Giltay, E. J. (2010). Effects of happiness on all-cause mortality during 15 years of follow-up: The Arnhem Elderly Study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 11(1), 113–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latouche, S. (2006). Le pari de la décroissance. Paris: Fayard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Layard, R. (2003). Good jobs, bad jobs. London School of Economics. Centre for Economic Performance. Occasional papers 19.

  • Layard, R. (2011 [2005]). Happiness. Lessons from a new science (2nd ed.). London: Penguin.

  • Leyden, K. M., Goldberg, A., & Michelbach, P. (2011). Understanding the pursuit of happiness in ten major cities. Urban Affairs Review, 47(6), 861–888.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, C.-H. A., Lahiri, S., & Hsu, C.-P. (2014). Happiness and regional segmentation: Does space matter? Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(1), 57–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lind, N. C. (1992). Some thoughts on the human development index. Social Indicators Research, 27, 89–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., King, L., & Diener, E. (2005). The benefits of frequent positive affect: Does happiness lead to success? Psychological Bulletin, 131(6), 803–855.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marmot, M. (2004). Status syndrome. London: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martikainen, L. (2009). The many faces of life satisfaction among Finnish young adults. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(6), 721–737.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGillivray, M. (1991). The human development index: Yet another redundant composite development indicator? World Development, 19(10), 1461–1468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pacione, M. (2001). Urban geography: A global perspective. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Palisi, B. J., & Canning, C. (1983). Urbanism and social psychological well-being: A cross-cultural test of three theories. The Sociological Quarterly, 24, 527–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palisi, B. J., & Ransford, H. E. (1987). Effects of urbanism, race, and class on happiness and physical health. Sociological Spectrum, 7, 271–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E. (1983). The theory of local public goods twenty-five years after Tiebout: A perspective. In G. R. Zodrow (Ed.), Local provision on public services: The Tiebout model after twenty-five years (pp. 17–53). New York: Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E. (2000). Economics of the public sector (3rd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A., & Fitoussi, J.-P. (2010). Mis-measuring our lives. Why GDP doesn’t add up. New York: The New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tiebout, C. M. (1956). Pure theory of local expenditures. Journal of Political Economy, 64, 416–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tönnies, F. (2004 [1887]). Community and society. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.

  • Veenhoven, R. (1991). Is happiness relative? Social Indicators Research, 24, 1–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Veenhoven, R. (2001). Qualita’ della vita e felicita. In G. de Girolamo, A. Becchi, F. S. Coppa, D. De Leo, G. Neri, P. Rucci, & P. Scocco (Eds.), Salute e Qualita della Vita. Torino: Centro Scientifico Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wills-Herrera, E., Islam, G., & Hamilton, M. (2009). Subjective well-being in cities: A multidimensional concept of individual, social and cultural variables. Applied Research Quality Life, 4(2), 201–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wirth, L. (1938). Urbanism as a way of life. American Journal of Sociology, 44(1), 1–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wirth, L. (1956). Rural–urban differences. In L. Wirth (Ed.) Community life and social policy (pp. 172–176). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press (edited by Elizabeth Wirth Marvik and Albert J. Reiss, Jr.).

Download references

Acknowledgments

Financial support for this research was provided by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain, Project # CSO2013-46440-P.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Malaga, Campus El Ejido, 29071, Málaga, Spain

    Felix Requena

Authors
  1. Felix Requena
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Felix Requena.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Requena, F. Rural–Urban Living and Level of Economic Development as Factors in Subjective Well-Being. Soc Indic Res 128, 693–708 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1051-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-1051-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation