well being in danish cities - measuring local well-being for policymaking

WELL BEING IN DANISH CITIES Measuring local well-being for

policymaking

7 November 2016

Outline

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1. Why and how to measure well-being in cities

2. What are the city-regions in Denmark?

3. How do Danish city-regions fare in terms of people’s well-being?

4. How can well-being metrics be used for policy-making?

Why look at well-being at local level? A framework for measuring local well-being

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- Measures well-being where people live (the importance of the scale e.g. functional urban areas or city-regions)

- Focus on outcomes rather than output

- Multidimensionality

- Focus on distributions of outcomes

- Assess how well-being changes over time (resilience, sustainability)

- It considers that well-being can be manageable to change by citizens, governance and institutions

Main features

Presenter

Presentation Notes

To adequately inform policy, data need to capture the scale of people’s everyday lives, not necessarily according to administrative units. The territorial lens is important not only for highlighting spatial differences, but to help monitor the results of policy. Measuring the “right” things (offering indicators) Example of Newcastle (UK): ranks high among UK regions in terms of health service provision, but underperforms in terms of health status => “we are clearly not measuring the right things” Helping citizens and policymakers to assess the results of policies & monitor progress (using indicators) Through a common framework of domains & indicators at the most relevant geographic scales possible

What are the city regions in Denmark?

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• City-regions in Denmark

• 58% of national population (2016)

• 61% of national employment (2014)

Presenter

Presentation Notes

The five city-regions of Denmark concentrate 58% of the national population in the country in 2016, while they account for 61% of total employment.

Since 2000, disposable household income has been growing in all Danish cities, most quickly in Copenhagen and Aarhus.

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Aarhus also shows the fastest increase in tertiary educational attainment of its working-age inhabitants.

Equivalised household disposable income (US$ constant 2010 prices and PPP)

Income inequality has been rising driven by faster growth in the top 20% of the income distribution.

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Labour participation higher than OECD average, but stagnating since the economic crisis, with Odense showing the fastest decline

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72%

74%

76%

78%

80%

82%

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Labour force as a % of working age population

Copenhagen Aarhus Odense Aalborg Esbjerg OECD (282)

Copenhagen

Esbjerg

Aalborg

Aarhus

Odense

OECD cities (282)

Unemployment is concentrated in the cores, with the highest gap between the core and the commuting zone observed in Esbjerg and Aarhus.

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Esbjerg Aarhus Copenhagen Aalborg Odense

2003 2013Ratio between the unemployment rate in the

cores and in the commuting zones

Exposure to violent crimes is higher in the cores than in the commuting zones, despite the generally high safety levels of the cities.

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0

500

1000

1500

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Copenhagen Odense Aarhus Esbjerg Aalborg Rest of Denmark

Number of victims of violent crime per 100 000 inhabitants

Core Commuting zone

Presenter

Presentation Notes

This difference is particularly large in Copenhagen, where crime levels are almost twice as high as in the city core.

Life expectancy is not homogeneous within cities Differences across municipalities within the same city-region can go up to more than 5 years (Copenhagen)

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Presenter

Presentation Notes


Life expectancy tends to be higher in municipalities with higher median income (and larger population), on average

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Median income in 2010 and life expectancy at birth (2011-14)

Presenter

Presentation Notes


Spatial segregation by income is stronger among the poorest households, a pattern similar to that found for Dutch cities.

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Presenter

Presentation Notes

It is the opposite of what has been observed in France, Canada and in the United States, where the most affluent groups are those showing the highest tendency to concentrate in specific neighbourhoods.

How can well-being metric be used for policy-making?

An update of the web-tool for an user-friendly visualisation of well-being conditions in OECD regions has been released in the Summer

www.oecdregionalwellbeing.org

http://www.oecdregionalwellbeing.org/

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Translate well-being objectives into policy-relevant

indicators

Select indicators

Identify baselinesand expected results

Monitor progress and potential of places

Foster citizen engagement

and communicationInformation, consultation

and participation

How can well-being metric be used for policy-making?

The starting point of this well-being measurement cycle varies across regions, according to the specific objective of measuring well-being and who is leading the process.

Regional well-being measurement cycle: A possible sequencing of steps

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Designing and implementing a regional well‑being strategy based on these three building blocks requires a sequential process within a continuous exchange of information, consultation and participation among different stakeholders (Figure): Translating well‑being objectives into policy‑relevant indicators. A regional well‑being measurement strategy needs to provide policy makers and citizens with direct information on people’s lives as they are lived in different communities, and on what can be changed through policy to make them better. This requires establishing a clear link between regional well‑being measurement and regional development goals, and aligning policy objectives across and within levels of government. Selecting indicators. The choice of well‑being indicators needs to reflect local priorities and assets. A deliberative process of consultation should be set up to focus on a limited set of key indicators. These will help reflect objective living conditions against what people perceive, helping to target policy attention towards those in greatest need and make the most of existing information. Identifying baselines and expected results. Establishing a clear starting point and a range of targets to be achieved helps structure the course of public action around a transparent timeline and intermediate milestones. In a policy environment characterised by uncertainty, building a system of incentives promotes learning and capacity. Monitoring progress and assessing the potential of different places. Regional well‑being indicators can provide a tool for tracking change over time and identifying the specific assets for development in different communities. This contributes to pooling resources towards policies that maximise a region’s potential for progress. Fostering citizen engagement and communication of results. Bringing citizens on board from an early stage of the measurement initiative gears efforts towards what matters most to the community and builds momentum for action. Putting in place mechanisms for continuous dialogue allows for a critical assessment of results, facilitates policy adjustments when necessary, and increases accountability and trust. Implementing this process of well-being metrics requires the involvement of relevant stakeholders and constructive interaction among them (e.g. coordination between levels of governments) Need to achieve continuity beyond political cycles

• State of Morelos, Mexico: – Clear well-being targets integrated in the state development plan

– Complementarities between well-being dimensions addressed in the metrics

• Northern Netherlands, the Netherlands: – Involvement of the academic community allowed the development of sophisticated

regional well-being indicators to be used by policy makers

• City of Genoa, Italy: – Political debate involving the local governments, civil society, trade unions, and social

enterprises around a dashboard of well-being indicators

• City of Newcastle, United Kingdom: – National mandate to highlight integrated and life-long approach to health and well-

being

– Measure the “right” things and combine good health service provision with low health status

Examples of other local well-being initiatives at subnational level

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Objectives

Geographic scale

Strategies

Distribution

Governance

How to adopt a well-being (and inclusive) approach in policy making for cities

Fostering both growth and equity

Different scales (neighbourhoods, cities, metropolitan areas) also

functional urban areas

Multi-sectoral approach

Support well-being of all social groups

Collaboration among levels of government, citizens, private and

public stakeholders

• Gather a solid evidence base of outcome indicators on the different aspects of people’s lives

• Build partnerships among stakeholders around common strategic projects

• Target policy interventions on the right geographical scale (which can range from neighbourhood scale to the metropolitan scale)

• Make sure that participatory processes are truly inclusive

• Tap innovative sources of financing

From design to implementation

well being in danish cities - measuring local well-being for policymaking

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