Quality of Life in Urban-Classified and Rural-Classified English Local Authority Areas

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the Audit Commission's local quality-of-life indicators dataset to compare reported outcomes amongst 208 urban-classified and 144 rural-classified English local authority areas. We contextualise the demarcation of the urban and rural by reference to the transformational politics of the previous Labour government and its establishment of the sustainable communities initiative, whose controversial ‘place-based’ revitalisation essence continues to shape local government policy. According to the collectivist sustainability interpretation of the 73 indicators analysed, our results reveal that not only do urban-classified English local authority areas register a significantly lower quality of life than their rural counterparts but that they are also subject to much greater statistical and spatial variation. In addition, we find that the community-related and economy-related indicators serve to distinguish the reported quality-of-life conditions of rural and urban localities most, whereas the scores for transport are uniquely superior for urban areas, especially London. In considering the policy implications of our results, we draw attention to Labour's much-trumpeted justice-based approach to sustainable development, and contemplate the viability of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government's ‘Big Society’ endeavour.