Monitoring the Urban Quality of Life in Latin America: An Introduction Eduardo Lora Research Department Inter-American Development Bank October, 2008.

Monitoring Monitoring the Urban Quality of Life the Urban Quality of Life

in Latin America:in Latin America:An IntroductionAn Introduction

Eduardo LoraEduardo LoraResearch Department Research Department

Inter-American Development BankInter-American Development Bank

October, 2008October, 2008

The Concept of QoLThe Concept of QoL

1.1. Living conditions (e.g. basic needs)Living conditions (e.g. basic needs)

2.2. Capabilities (e.g. UNDP human Capabilities (e.g. UNDP human development Index)development Index)

3.3. ““Livability” of the environment (e.g. Livability” of the environment (e.g. income per capita and growth)income per capita and growth)

4.4. Life appreciation and happinessLife appreciation and happiness ……all these are interconnectedall these are interconnected

Beyond Facts:Beyond Facts:Understanding Quality of LifeUnderstanding Quality of Life

SETTING THE STAGESETTING THE STAGE1.1. Quality of Life through a New LensQuality of Life through a New Lens2.2. The Reality of PerceptionsThe Reality of Perceptions3.3. The Conflictive Relationship between Satisfaction and IncomeThe Conflictive Relationship between Satisfaction and Income4.4. Satisfaction beyond IncomeSatisfaction beyond Income

FACTS AND PERCEPTIONS IN ACTIONFACTS AND PERCEPTIONS IN ACTION5.5. Getting a Pulse on Health QualityGetting a Pulse on Health Quality6.6. Learning about Educational Quality and PerceptionsLearning about Educational Quality and Perceptions7.7. Rethinking Conventional Wisdom on Job QualityRethinking Conventional Wisdom on Job Quality8.8. Building Quality Cities: More than Bricks and MortarBuilding Quality Cities: More than Bricks and Mortar

THE CURTAIN CALLTHE CURTAIN CALL9.9. Making Political Sense of Quality of Life PerceptionsMaking Political Sense of Quality of Life Perceptions

New Sources of Information on QoLNew Sources of Information on QoL

General: the Gallup World PollGeneral: the Gallup World Poll– Annual since 2006Annual since 2006– 130 countries, 22 from LAC130 countries, 22 from LAC– ~1000 individuals by country~1000 individuals by country– over 100 QoL-related questionsover 100 QoL-related questions

Urban: pilot surveys in 8 citiesUrban: pilot surveys in 8 cities– Argentina: Buenos AiresArgentina: Buenos Aires– Bolivia: La Paz, Santa CruzBolivia: La Paz, Santa Cruz– Colombia: BogotColombia: Bogotá, Medellíná, Medellín– Costa Rica: San JoséCosta Rica: San José– Peru: LimaPeru: Lima– Uruguay: MontevideoUruguay: Montevideo

Understanding QoL perceptionsUnderstanding QoL perceptions

Not a direct reflection of realityNot a direct reflection of reality– Not a substitute for objective dataNot a substitute for objective data

Very influenced by cultureVery influenced by culture– Country rankings don´t tell muchCountry rankings don´t tell much

Perceptions are not a direct Perceptions are not a direct reflection of “reality”reflection of “reality”

Correlation with objective

indicatorsCorrelation with

cultural bias

Life satisfaction Per capita GDP 0.81 0.29

Satisfaction with standard of living Per capita GDP 0.65 0.51

Satisfaction with health Life expectancy 0.21 0.39

Confidence in medical system Life expectancy 0.29 0.60

Satisfaction with local educational system

Score on PISA test 0.42 0.68

Satisfaction with housingPublic services

coverage 1 0.76 0.41

Availability of affordable priced good homes

Home ownership rate 2 0.23 0.51

Source: Authors' calculations based on Gallup (2006 and 2007), World Bank (2007) and UNDP (2008). Countries are the unit of observation. Public services are water, electricity and landline phone service. Ownership rates only available for Sub-saharian Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Perceptions are not a direct Perceptions are not a direct reflection of “reality”reflection of “reality”

Relationship between Water Coverage and House Satisfaction

Haiti

Dominican RepublicNicaragua

Paraguay

El SalvadorHonduras

BelizeGuyana

PeruBolivia

Ecuador

Trinidad & Tobago

Brazil

Guatemala

Argentina

Cuba

PanamaVenezuela

ColombiaMexicoUruguay

Costa Rica

Jamaica

Chile

Puerto Rico

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110

Water coverage, %

Hou

se s

atis

fact

ion,

%

Source: Author’s calculations based on Gallup (2006 and 2007)

Perceptions of Own Housing and of Own Perceptions of Own Housing and of Own City City

Source: Author’s calculations based on Gallup (2006 and 2007)0 20 40 60 80 100

Haiti

Jamaica

Trinidad and Tobago

Peru

Bolivia

Chile

Dominican Republic

Guyana

Nicaragua

Belice

Ecuador

Uruguay

Brazil

El Salvador

Colombia

Argentina

Mexico

Honduras

Panama

Venezuela

Costa Rica

Paraguay

Guatemala

Sub-Saharian Africa

Europe and Central Africa

Middle East and North Africa

East Asia and the Pacific

Latin America and the

South Asia

Western Europe

Percentage satisfied

Satisfaction with own housing

Satisfaction with City

Cultural biases and satisfaction Cultural biases and satisfaction with own citywith own city

Relationship between Satisfaction with City and Cultural Bias

-2

-1.5

-1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Percentage satisfied with city

Cu

ltura

l Bia

s

Source: Authors' calculations based on Gallup (2006 and 2007)


Not a direct reflection of realityNot a direct reflection of reality– Not a substitute of objective dataNot a substitute of objective data

Very influenced by cultureVery influenced by culture– Country rankings don´t tell muchCountry rankings don´t tell much

Subject to self-serving biasesSubject to self-serving biases– Public and private domains not directly comparablePublic and private domains not directly comparable

Limited by information, aspirationsLimited by information, aspirations– Not a good yardstick of the quality of policiesNot a good yardstick of the quality of policies– Maximizing “happiness” not a good policy objectiveMaximizing “happiness” not a good policy objective

Two examples of self-serving Two examples of self-serving biases: housing and job satisfactionbiases: housing and job satisfaction

0 20 40 60 80 100

Haiti

Jamaica

Trinidad and Tobago

Peru

Bolivia

Chile

Dominican Republic

Guyana

Nicaragua

Belice

Ecuador

Uruguay

Brazil

El Salvador

Colombia

Argentina

Mexico

Honduras

Panama

Venezuela

Costa Rica

Paraguay

Guatemala

Sub-Saharian Africa

Europe and Central Africa




South Asia

Western Europe


Satisfaction with housing

Availability of good homes at affordable prices

0 20 40 60 80 100

Haiti

Domincan Republic

Peru

Trinidad and Tobago

Chile

Argentina

Jamaica

Ecuador

El Salvador

Belize

Guyana

Nicaragua

Uruguay

Paraguay

Bolivia

Mexico

Colombia

Honduras

Panama

Brazil

Venezuela

Costa Rica

Guatemala

Sub-saharian Africa

Europe and Central Asia


South Asia



North America

Western Europe


Satisfaction with employment

Satisfaction with public labor policy

Source: Author’s calculations based on Gallup (2006 and 2007)

The role of information and aspirations: The role of information and aspirations: satisfaction with educationsatisfaction with education

People Who Think the Majority of the Children Receive a Good Education

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Years of education

Per

cen

tag

e o

f re

spo

nde

nts

Honduras Chile

Source: Authors' calculations based on Quality of Life Modules of household surveys. Note: the sample corresponds to adults 18 years old or older.


However…However… Answers do reflect how people feelAnswers do reflect how people feel

– Richness of information at individual levelRichness of information at individual level Hosts of things matterHosts of things matter

– Own´s income and others´incomeOwn´s income and others´income– And many things beyond incomeAnd many things beyond income

Some things matter more than othersSome things matter more than others– Helps understand market and politicial Helps understand market and politicial

attitudes.attitudes.

The richer, the more satisfiedThe richer, the more satisfiedwith their homes and citieswith their homes and cities

Satisfaction with own home

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

6 7 8 9 10 11

Ln GDP per capita, 2005

Satis

fied

with

ow

n ho

me

Satisfaction with city

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

6 7 8 9 10 11

Ln GDP per capita, 2005

Satis

fied

with

city

……but the richer those around you, the lower but the richer those around you, the lower the satisfaction with the material aspects of lifethe satisfaction with the material aspects of life

***

***

***

***

*** **

**

*

*

The relationship among satisfaction, own income and income of others

Satisfaction beyond incomeSatisfaction beyond income

Housing satisfaction:Housing satisfaction:Water, phone and title deeds matterWater, phone and title deeds matter

How much the probability of being satisfied with housing increases if…

House has water 34.082***

Someone in the house has a telephone 22.232**

House has electricity -4.843

Person is the owner 26.179*

Person has a title deed 50.172***

Woman 5.053

Age -5.315***

Age squared 0.061***

Kids at school -0.418

Number of household members 0.581

Number of kids at home -3.120

Income quintile 16.336***

Country fixed effects Yes

Number of observations 6371

R2 0.0564

Source – IDB, Beyond Facts: Understanding Quality of Life. Chapter 8.

Services coverage is high, though Services coverage is high, though far from universalfar from universal

Public Services Coverage in Urban Areas and the Coverage Gap Between the Highest and Lowest Two Quintiles

Sanitation Water Electricity

Coverage Gap Coverage Gap Coverage Gap

Argentina 60.4 39.2 98.4 4.0 99.5 1.2

Bolivia 61.2 -3.2 90.2 9.7 92.5 6.1

Brazil 65.5 30.2 95.6 9.9 99.6 0.9

Chile 91.8 11.2 99.3 1.3 99.7 0.6

Colombia 87.6 10.4 89.9 5.2 90.4 4.6

Costa Rica 43.4 5.8 98.9 0.6 99.9 0.2

Ecuador 67.4 28.7 91.1 9.7 99.3 1.2

El Salvador 50.6 30.7 73.7 23.8 90.7 14.4

Guatemala 66.7 23.9 77.9 0.8 96.0 11.0

Mexico 69.5 37.1 94.9 8.9 99.6 1.0

Nicaragua 36.4 23.8 89.5 13.4 95.5 12.8

Paraguay 15.0 14.7 89.7 20.1 98.4 3.8

Peru 77.6 34.3 83.4 23.8 96.3 12.6

Uruguay 66.2 38.3 98.8 1.5 99.3 1.9

Venezuela 95.1 5.7 93.9 6.7 99.1 0.9

Average 56.9 17.8 85.6 9.9 94.9 6.5

Source: Cristini and Moya (2008) based on SEDLAC.

And And homehome ownership is pretty high, ownership is pretty high, even for the poor…even for the poor…

Home Ownership Rates by Income (urban areas)

Low income High income Average

Argentina 58.4 70.6 66.0

Bolivia 55.4 55.0 53.9

Brazil 65.3 73.0 69.9

Chile 59.8 69.2 65.9

Colombia 57.8 64.1 60.0

Costa Rica 69.1 74.2 72.2

Dominican Republic 59.3 58.3 59.3

Ecuador 70.6 69.5 69.4

El Salvador 56.3 71.0 66.0

Guatemala 71.1 70.0 70.0

Honduras 57.2 62.0 59.2

Mexico 67.3 71.8 69.5

Nicaragua 67.6 79.6 76.6

Paraguay 75.6 74.2 74.4

Peru 55.1 70.0 65.7

Uruguay 43.9 75.5 64.0

Venezuela 77.2 74.3 75.3

Latin America and The Caribbeana 63.6 71.3 68.4

But many poor families lack title deedsBut many poor families lack title deedsPercentage of Homeowners in the Lowest Two Quintiles with Title Deeds, 2007

40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Dominican Republic

Uruguay

Panama

Belize

Brazil

Chile

Argentina

Colombia

Honduras

Paraguay

Nicaragua

Peru

El Salvador

Ecuador

Guatemala

Costa Rica

Guyana

Bolivia

Mexico

Source: Gallup (2007).

How Latin Americans judge their citiesHow Latin Americans judge their citiesPercentage of persons with the following perception…

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Not satisfied with traffic

Not satisfied with water quality

Not satisfied with air quality

Not satisfied with roads

Not satisfied with health services

Not satisfied with housing availability

Not satisfied with education services

Drug traffic in the city

Not satisfied with public transport

Not satisfied with city parks

Not satisfied with sidewalks quality

Gangs in the city

Do not feel safe walking alone


The most serious concern: securityThe most serious concern: security

Sub-Sah

AfricaWeste

rn

Europe

East

Asia

Percentage of People who Feel Unsafe Walking Alone at Night

30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70

Mexico

Panama

Honduras

Colombia

Peru

Nicaragua

Guatemala

Costa Rica

Uruguay

El Salvador

Dominican Republic

Venezuela

Ecuador

Paraguay

Bolivia

Argentina

Chile

Brazil

Latin America and The Caribbean

Percentage

Source: Gallup (2007).

How important each of these things is for How important each of these things is for their satisfaction with the citytheir satisfaction with the city

Impact of the following perceptions on the satisfaction

with the city

0.00 0.04 0.08












Gangs in the city



A ranking of city problemsA ranking of city problems(combining dissatisfaction and importance)(combining dissatisfaction and importance)


Total impact of the following problems

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0












Gangs in the city


What comes nextWhat comes next

A more rigorous explanation of the theory and the A more rigorous explanation of the theory and the

methods: Bernard Van Praagmethods: Bernard Van Praag

A detailed example, Buenos Aires: Guillermo A detailed example, Buenos Aires: Guillermo

CrucesCruces

A summary of the city cases: Andrew PowellA summary of the city cases: Andrew Powell

Can this be useful? Enrique PeñalosaCan this be useful? Enrique Peñalosa

Panel debate and conclusionsPanel debate and conclusions

Monitoring the Urban Quality of Life in Latin America: An Introduction Eduardo Lora Research Department Inter-American Development Bank October, 2008.

Documents

life perceptions

reality of perceptions

city slide

montevideo slide

education slide

interconnected slide

understanding qol perceptions

urban quality of life