Using a new method to map quality of life: The case of Denmark

This chapter revolves around perceived quality of life in different places in Denmark. The chapter is based on a large survey (N=42,500) in combination with Danish register data as well as a wide range of geographical data used to create a new method to capture neighbourhood effects at a much smaller scale than administrative units. Findings in this chapter are two-fold. On one hand, there is no doubt that Danes, in general, are very content with life and are happy. Nevertheless, relatively large differences are found when comparing rural Denmark with urban Denmark, where the rural parts of Denmark are significantly more content with life than their urban counterparts. Furthermore, when comparing socio-economic status of the neighbourhoods in rural and urban settings respectively, it becomes clear that the rural well-off neighbourhoods are the happiest, while the urban least well-off neighbourhoods are the least happy. These results indicate that there are close-knit geographical differences in quality of life and that degree of urbanism could be ascribed to some of the measurable differences.