Abstract
Quality of life (QOL) studies are increasinglygaining the attention of urban planners due toits usefulness in assessing and monitoringpublic policies. With this in mind, an attemptwas made in this study to assess the quality oflife of residents staying near industrialestates in Jurong, Singapore using 18subjective life indicators to measure theoverall life satisfaction.Based on a 5-point Likert scale, health (4.48),family life (4.37) and public safety (4.13)emerged as the more important aspects, whileself-development (3.90), religion (3.60) andpolitics (2.74) were named by the respondentsto be among the least important. On thesatisfaction level, public safety (3.92),family life (3.88), and public utilities (3.78)were deemed to be among the most satisfiedaspects, while consumer goods (2.92), politics(2.91) and environment (2.89) were consideredto be among the least satisfied aspects. Therelationship between the different demographicvariables with overall life satisfaction werealso determined and five variables, namely,marital status, education level, occupation,household income and household size were foundto contribute significantly to the overall lifesatisfaction scores.Overall, the residents in Jurong were found tobe generally satisfied with their life, scoringa mean satisfaction rating of 3.687. It ishoped that the data gathered from this studycan be used by planners in formulating andimplementing future policies.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Andrews, F.M. and S.B. Withey: 1976, Social Indicators of Well-being: Americans' Perceptions of Life Quality (Plenum, New York).
Chua, P.M.: 1997, Quality of life indicators in Singapore New Towns. Unpublished undergraduate dissertation, (School of Design and Environment, NUS).
Day, R.L.: 1987, 'Relationship between life satisfaction and consumer satisfaction', in A. Coskun Samli (ed.), Marketing and the Quality of Life Interface (Quorum Books, New York).
Dubois, S. and C. Gagnon: 2000, 'Quality of life in a small industrial city: A longitudinal study of Alma, Quebec (Canada)', Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Quality of Life in Cities, vol. 2 (National University of Singapore, Singapore, pp. 360-368).
Foo, T.S.: 1998, Measuring the Quality of Life of Singaporeans (Centre for Real Estate Studies, National University of Singapore, Singapore).
Foo, T.S.: 2000, 'Subjective assessment of urban quality of life in Singapore (1997-1998)', Habitat International 24, pp. 31-49.
Foo, T.S. and P.M. Chua: 1997, 'An exploratory study to measure quality of life in Singapore new towns', In proceedings of Pacific Rim Council on Urban Development (PRCUD) 9th Annual Conference (National University of Singapore, Singapore).
Foo, T.S., L.Y. Lim and K.M. Wong (eds.): 2000, Planning for a Better Quality of Life in Cities (School of Building and Real Estate, National University of Singapore, Singapore).
Foo, T.S., B. Yuen and L. Ching: 1998, 'Measuring the quality of life of Singaporeans', Proceedings of the First International Conference on Quality of Life in Cities, vol. 2 (National University of Singapore, Singapore, pp. 299-311).
Kau, A.K. and S.H. Wang: 1995, 'Assessing quality of life in Singapore: An exploratory study', Social Indicators Research 35, pp. 71-91.
Kim, O.D. and D.C. Shin: 1982, 'Perceptions of quality of life in an industrialising country: The case of Republic of Korea', Social Indicators Research 10, pp. 297-317.
Lee, P.S.: 1992, 'The meaning of satisfaction in the quality of life studies', in The Development of Social Indicators Research in Chinese Societies (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, pp. 129-146).
Leelakulthanit, O. and R. Day: 1992, 'Quality of life in Thailand', Social Indicators Research 27, pp. 41-57.
Schmandt, H.J. and W. Bloomberg (ed.): 1969, The Quality of Urban Life (Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, California).
Schumaker, S.A., R.T. Anderson and Czajkowski: 1990, 'Psychological test and scales', in B. Spiller (ed.), Quality of Life Assessment in Clinical Trials (Roven Press, New York).
Seed, P. and G. Lloyd: 1997, Quality of Life, (Jessica Kingsley, London).
Shookner, M.: 2000, 'The quality of life index for Ontario, Canada', Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Quality of Life in Cities, vol. 2 (National University of Singapore, Singapore, pp. 457-469).
Shen, S.: 1992, 'On quality of life in Hong Kong', in The Development of Social Indicators Research in Chinese Societies (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, pp. 129-146).
Slottje, D.J., G.W. Scully, J.G. Hirscchberg and K.J. Hayes: 1991, Measuring the Quality of Life across Countries (Westview Press, America).
Smith, P.: 1994, Evaluating the Quality of Life in Singapore: Some Explorations in Economic and Social Measurements (Centre for Advanced Studies, Singapore).
Suh, M.G.: 1998, Developmental Transformation in South Korea: From Statesponsored Growth to the Quest for Quality of Life (Praeger, Wesport).
UNESCO: 1983, Quality of Life: Problems of Assessment and Measurement (UNESCO, Paris).
Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA): 1996, Jurong West Planning Area: Planning Report (URA, Singapore).
Wang, S.H.: 1993, Life Satisfaction in Singapore: An Exploratory Study. Unpublished Academic Exercise (School of Management, Faculty of Business Administration, National University of Singapore).
Wen, S.Y.: 1994. Perceived Life Satisfaction and Life Quality in Taiwan (Asia Research Centre, Perth).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ibrahim, M.F., Chung, S.W. Quality of Life of Residents Living near Industrial Estates in Singapore. Social Indicators Research 61, 203–225 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021305620042
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021305620042