Countryside Agency Archive
Breadcrumbs
What is Quality of Life for?
Politicians, policy makers, planners and developers continually face decisions which seem to set different social, economic and environmental goals against each other. Where should new development be accommodated? Is a loss of green space or outlook justified to create jobs or housing? How should visitor pressures be managed in a beautiful but fragile landscape?
Decisions like these cry out for a fair and comprehensive method for setting out and comparing all the different plusses and minuses of different options, taking account of both expert and lay views. This is what QoL Assessment seeks to provide. It:
- stands back from areas or features and considers the benefits that they provide for human well-being ("what matters and why?")
- provides a systematic and transparent evaluation framework for all scales of decision-making
- integrates environmental, social and economic issues
- emphasisesimprovement of quality of life rather than acceptance of the status quo
- values the commonplaceas well as the unusual and rare
- puts professional/expert judgements alongside the concerns of local people
- works with other tools and processesincluding environmental impact assessment, sustainability appraisal, Community Planning and Best Value.
In a specifically planning context, it shows where and in what form and with what conditions development can be accommodated with the least possible loss or damage, and helps to halt the creeping erosion of quality of life.
