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QUALITY OF LIFE IN REGIONS OR NATIONS? CASE STUDY OF HAPPY LIFE YEARS
Abstract
The quality of life is one of the frequently discussed topics nowadays, not only in the academic sphere but also within the international policy-making institutions. In the past decades, dozens of complex methods for assessment of the quality of life have been developed. Different approaches can be applied regarding the quality of life evaluation. For many applications, a simple evaluation combining both the subjective and objective information and oriented on the ?life results? (means indicators of the good life) can be more suitable than a complex model. This concept is reflected in Veenhoven?s Happy Life Years index, which comprises information about life expectancy and self-reported happiness and denotes, how long and how happy life people live. In previous papers, this index has always been discussed at the national level. The main goal of this paper is to calculate the Happy Life Years index at the regional level in Europe with the purpose to identify national inequalities. With the use of spatial data and geovisualisation, the spatial distribution of the Happy Life Years scores across Europe was evaluated. The countries with the most significant intra-state variability as well as the most liveable regions have been identified. Finally, analysis of index distribution can answer the question, if the quality of life is more linked with nations or with transboundary areas formed by particular regions.
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