Suchergebnisse

The structure and distribution of quality of life forms a key area of research in human geography, with particular attention given to conditions at the disadvantaged end of the quality-of-life spectrum. To date, most work has focused on the national, regional, or interurban scale. However, whereas descriptive pattern identification and mapping is of value at the macroscale as a pointer to detailed work, policy-relevant quality-of-life indicators are more likely to be derived at the local scale and to be related to specific life concerns. In the present research, a multiscale multiindicator methodology is used to examine the structure and distribution of life quality in Glasgow. In a series of analyses in which objective and subjective indicators are employed at different geographic scales, the city-wide pattern of life quality is identified and a number of severely disadvantaged subareas isolated. Within one such subarea the quality-of-life experience of a particular social group, the elderly, is examined in detail. Application of the methodology in other cities could facilitate intercity and cross-cultural comparisons of quality-of-life variations within contemporary urban areas. Such investigations can also be of practical utility for decisionmakers seeking to define priorities for social policy.

Locational decisions are made on the basis of the individual's cognitive map of the real world, and the popular image of places can exert powerful influences on the structure of these internal models. This is of real importance for those engaged in tertiary and quaternary employment as well as for national strategies aimed at the regional redistribution of manpower. The present research examined the space perceptions and place images of potential migrants with particular reference to the planned dispersal of civil service posts from London to Glasgow.