Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Measuring quality of life on a regional level applying a measurement framework for sustainable development on the Metropolitan Region Eindhoven Hoogerwerf, J.M. Award date: 2020 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. 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Lintsen Eindhoven, Thursday 9th July, 2020 Abstract In recent years, the Dutch government and parliament use the monitor of well-being from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) to gather insights in quality of life within the country. The monitor of well-being is based on the internationally recognised recommendations regarding sustainable development from the Conference of European statistics (CES). It is developed to analyse quality of life on a national level. However, policy makers and academics are arguing for the need of a regional monitoring tool. The aim of this research is to analyse how the CES-recommendations regarding sustainable development can be used to develop a regional monitoring tool. Such a monitoring tool allows for informed decision making in regional policy developments. The CES-recommendations for sustainable development are re-framed to analyse quality of life on a regional level. The resulting regional framework is applied to the Metropolitan Region Eindhoven (MRE). The themes, indicators and the results of the regional framework are compared to the perspective of the MRE. The re-framed CES- recommendations are in principle applicable on a regional level. The results show that for the most part the CES-recommendations and the regional perspective overlap. There are different focus points on both sides which could be solved by adding additional themes and indicators. Furthermore, a regional monitoring tool based on the CES-recommendations, enables regional policy developers to include all aspects regarding quality of life. The outcomes of such a monitor can allow for informed decision making in policy, but also regarding inter-municipal collaboration. Using a regional monitor over time can help assess the impact of new policies. Measuring quality of life on a regional level iii Executive summary In recent years there is an increasing acknowledgement that economic metrics like GDP are not comprehensive enough to serve as an indicator for progress. The objective for progress is an increase in quality of life. Quality of life consists of material and immaterial aspects. Furthermore, it has a strong connection with sustainability and global relations. To allow for a consisting measuring method, the Conference of European Statistics (CES) has developed a framework to analyse sustainable development on a national level. The Central Bureau of Statistics of the Netherlands has used this framework to develop a national monitoring tool to measure quality of life. The monitor is being used by the Dutch government and parliament. Analysing quality of life on a national level does not provide any information regarding the differences within a country. Large differences can hide within the average of a country. Also, quality of life which is experienced by people is mostly determined by their direct living environment. The direct living environment is mostly shaped by regional characteristics instead of national ones. Therefore, regional monitoring tools are also important for analysing quality of life accurately. Furthermore, the results of a regional tool can help regional policy developments. To that end, the aim of this study is to analyse how the framework from the CES can be used to develop a regional monitor to analyse quality of life. This monitor needs to allow for informed decision making regarding regional policy developments. To answer the research question, a case study is performed. This study uses the Metropolitan Region Eindhoven (MRE) as the case study. The first step of this research is to analyse the meaning of quality of life and its relation to a regional approach. This is done by analysing academic literature. The second step is to re-frame the framework developed by the CES to make it applicable on a regional level. The third step is to apply the re-framed framework to the MRE. The fourth step is to analyse quality of life from a regional perspective, the perspective of the MRE. This is done by using a political discourse analysis. The final step is to compare the framework with the perspective of the MRE. The gaps and overlap provide an indication for the applicability of the CES-framework. In addition, it allows for policy implications. The results show that the MRE has a similar quality of life compared to the Netherlands and the province of North-Brabant. Differences only occur when looking at the different sub-regions and municipalities within the MRE. This indicates that a regional tool needs to analyse quality of life on a municipal level as well as to capture the differences and support policy developments accurately. The results from the political discourse analysis showed a large influence on municipal policy agendas by cooperation's in the MRE. For the most part there are similarities between the Measuring quality of life on a regional level v region and the framework presented by the CES. However, there are some differences in focus points and not all themes of the regionalised CES-framework are present in the political discourse. Also, themes considered of high importance in the MRE-region are not included in the framework. There were three different types of policy implications that resulted from the study. First, a regional tool would support the usage of an inclusive perspective regarding quality of life in regional policy developments. Second, the resulting performance of a region allows for informed decision making on a local government level. This applies to policy developments but also to cooperation's between regions and/or municipalities. Third, the usage of a monitoring tool over time allows for a trend analysis. This can be used to assess the effects of new policies. This study concludes that the framework from the CES can be used to develop a regional monitoring tool which analyses quality of life. Furthermore, this framework can support informed decision making regarding regional policy development. The CES-recommendations are considered to be the foundations for developing a regional monitoring tool. However, some additions regarding themes and indicators have to be made to make it fully applicable on a regional level. vi Measuring quality of life on a regional level Samenvatting In de afgelopen jaren wordt er steeds vaker ingezien dat economische indicatoren zoals het Bruto Binnenlands Product (BBP) niet uitgebreid genoeg zijn om te dienen als indicator voor vooruitgang. Samenlevingen willen met vooruitgang een betere kwaliteit van leven cre¨eren. Kwaliteit van leven bestaat uit materi¨eleen niet materi¨eleaspecten. Daarnaast heeft het een sterke link met duurzaamheid en internationale relaties. Om een consistente manier van meten mogelijk te maken, heeft de Conferentie van Europese Statistiek (CES) een raamwerk ontwikkeld om duurzame ontwikkeling te analyseren op een nationaal niveau. Het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) van Nederland heeft dit raamwerk gebruikt om een nationale monitor te ontwikkelen dat kwaliteit van leven meet. Deze monitor wordt gebruikt door de Nederlandse overheid en het parlement. Het analyseren van kwaliteit van leven op een nationaal niveau geeft geen informatie met be- trekking tot de verschillen binnen een land. Daarnaast wordt de beleving die mensen hebben over de kwaliteit van hun leven vaak bepaald door de directe omgeving waarin ze leven. Deze directe omgeving wordt voornamelijk bepaald door regionale in plaats van nationale karak- teristieken. Daarom zijn regionale monitoren ook belangrijk om kwaliteit van leven accuraat te analyseren. Verder kunnen de resultaten van zo'n monitor regionale beleidsontwikkelingen ondersteunen. Om die redenen heeft dit onderzoek het doel om te analyseren hoe het raam- werk van CES gebruikt kan worden om een regionale monitor te ontwikkelen. Een regionale monitor moet ge¨ınformeerdebesluitvorming voor regionaal beleid kunnen ondersteunen. Om de onderzoeksvraag te beantwoorden is er een casestudie uitgevoerd. De Metropool Regio Eindhoven (MRE) wordt hiervoor gebruikt. De eerste stap van dit onderzoek is het analyseren van de betekenis van kwaliteit van leven en de relatie die het heeft met een regionale aanpak. Deze stap is uitgevoerd door middel van een literatuur onderzoek . De tweede stap is om het raamwerk van de CES te hervormen zodat het toepasbaar is op een regionaal niveau. De derde stap is om het hervormde raamwerk toe te passen op de MRE. De vierde stap is het analyseren van kwaliteit van leven vanuit een regionaal perspectief, het perspectief van de MRE. Deze analyse bestaat uit een politieke discourse analyse.