Abstract
The chapter describes a two-part study that uses household surveys and GIS technology to examine aspects of quality of urban life in Salzburg, Austria. In the first part, a 1-km2 test area of the city was selected and within it, 55 ha grid cells containing at least 30 residents were identified. For each grid cell, GIS data covering urban conditions were recorded. At the same time, face-to-face interviews were conducted with a sample of residents in each cell. Respondents were asked about their quality of urban life (QOUL). Findings indicate that a positive QOUL was associated with detached housing, low population density, greenery, friendly neighbors and a safe environment. The second part of the study extended the approach to six of Salzburg’s 24 districts where differences in subjective QOUL assessments are explored.. Again, GIS is used to test hypotheses relating to the impact of environmental factors on subjective assessments of QOUL.
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Acknowledgments
The field interviews of study 1 were undertaken by Salzburg psychology students Susanne Bachler, Anna Enz, Rene Hackstock, Julia Hochfilzer, Lars Larsen, Gerald Moser, Judith Schider, Eva Strasser, Sonja Tejkl, and Melanie Trieb. The field interviews of study 2 were undertaken by Stefanie Spoeth and Silvia Steingruber (Gneis), Melanie Bachinger and Sabine Hemmers (Leopoldskron-Moos), Tugba Doenmez, Tamara Plass and Daniela Udovicic (Liefering), Claudia Biehl and Martin Beinsteiner (Gnigl), Anita Koeberl, Christina Liesinger and Claudia Reslhuber (Parsch), as well as Sylvia Hametsberger, Karolina Horngacher and Isabella Uhl (Salzburg South). Study 1 was conducted in cooperation with RSA Research Studios Austria iSPACE Salzburg; project 2 in cooperation with the Salzburg City Council, Department of Townplanning. No financial grants were involved.
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Keul, A.G., Prinz, T. (2011). The Salzburg Quality of Urban Life Study with GIS Support. In: Marans, R., Stimson, R. (eds) Investigating Quality of Urban Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1742-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1742-8_12
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