Measures to assess well-being in low-carbon-dioxide cities

Policies aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions often focus on the need to change existing behaviours and social practices as well as to provide technological advances in energy supply, waste, transport, industry and infrastructure. While fundamentally important to the mitigation of climate change, little is written about the impact that achieving carbon dioxide reduction targets, particularly for the built environment, will have on individual and societal well-being and quality of life. This paper investigates how a set of measures can be developed to assess well-being in cities, both as they are at present and as they transition to ‘low-carbon-dioxide’ futures. It outlines the important relationship between well-being, low-carbon-dioxide development and the built environment. A strategy for obtaining and assessing well-being measures is explained, the measures are discussed and 100 selected measures are detailed. The paper ends by illustrating how these measures can be integrated into a wider study of well-being.