4.3 Inferences of the survey

The social bonds that are created at community centers help build strong, safe,and inclusive communities; social interaction, volunteerism, civic pride, and aesthetics all play a role. After-school programs can help deter at-risk youth from criminal activities and can provide a constructive environment. These spaces are meant for all ages, ethnicities, and skill levels and should promote cultural diversity and inclusion.

2.7 Quality of Urban Life in cities through Public Open Spaces

As per the UNO-Habitat (2016), Global Public Space Toolkit: From Global Principles to Local Policies and Practice, the Quality of urban life is essential for cities to prosper. Cities that improve the quality of life for their citizens experience higher levels of prosperity; they are also likely to find themselves more advanced in terms of sustainability. Such cities strive toward social equity by increasing access to the urban commons and public goods, preventing private appropriation, and expanding the scope for improved quality of life for all. Cities that have a strong notion of the ‘public’ demonstrate a commitment to an improved quality of life for their citizens by providing adequate street space, green areas, parks, recreation facilities, and other public spaces. Public spaces are a vital ingredient of successful cities. They help build a sense of community, civic identity, and culture. Public spaces facilitate social capital, economic development, and community revitalization. Having access to public spaces does not only improve the quality of life but is also the first step toward civic empowerment and greater access to institutional and political spaces. The liveliness and continuous use of public space as a public good lead to urban environments that are well maintained, healthy and safe, making the city an attractive place in which to live and work.18

2.7.1 Happiness Index

The Happiness Index is a tool for the use of researchers, community organizers, and policymakers seeking to understand and enhance individual happiness, community wellbeing, social justice, economic equality, and environmental sustainability. The index was formed with the intent to promote social change by making the survey instrument and data freely available to community organizers, educators, researchers, students, organizations, government, and more. The index is unique in that it is the only widely comprehensive index available for free online that survey takers to access their scores in comparison to the entire data set, while also allowing users to customize the tool for a target population, add their questions to the survey instrument, and readily access data for their sample as well as comparison data to the entire data set.19

The qualities measured in the domains are as follows:

18 Global Public Space Toolkit: From Global Principles to Local Policies and Practice (n1) 136

19 UNO-Habitat(2020) World Happiness Report, pp 3