Quality of Life in Glasgow: An Applied Geographical Analysis

The structure and distribution of quality of life forms a key area of research in human geography, with particular attention given to conditions at the disadvantaged end of the quality-of-life spectrum. To date, most work has focused on the national, regional, or interurban scale. However, whereas descriptive pattern identification and mapping is of value at the macroscale as a pointer to detailed work, policy-relevant quality-of-life indicators are more likely to be derived at the local scale and to be related to specific life concerns. In the present research, a multiscale multiindicator methodology is used to examine the structure and distribution of life quality in Glasgow. In a series of analyses in which objective and subjective indicators are employed at different geographic scales, the city-wide pattern of life quality is identified and a number of severely disadvantaged subareas isolated. Within one such subarea the quality-of-life experience of a particular social group, the elderly, is examined in detail. Application of the methodology in other cities could facilitate intercity and cross-cultural comparisons of quality-of-life variations within contemporary urban areas. Such investigations can also be of practical utility for decisionmakers seeking to define priorities for social policy.