ERIC Number: EJ786856
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Apr
Pages: 17
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0303-8300
EISSN: N/A
Changes in the Quality of Life of Durban's People
O'Leary, Brian
Social Indicators Research, v81 n2 p357-373 Apr 2007
Durban, the busiest port and second largest industrial hub in South Africa, has a developmental vision that sees its residents living in "acceptably serviced housing" and enjoying a "generally high quality of life that can be sustained". This vision is in response to South Africa"s transitional aspirations to move from an inequitable apartheid state to a democratic society with greater socio-economic parity. Since 1998 the eThekwini Municipality, which is the local authority responsible for the city of Durban, has conducted annual surveys to monitor the changes in the quality of life of Durban's people. Structured questionnaire interviews were administered in 14 300 dwellings between 1998 and 2005. The samples drawn each year were representative of the city's demographics and covered a wide range of housing types. Results indicate that parity of life satisfaction between race groups is as far apart in 2005 as it was in 1998. The paper undertakes trend analysis, from a local government perspective, of key objective and subjective variables in the surveys. It identifies the domains that have the greatest impact on satisfaction with life, and reports the salient issues for black householders, who have the lowest level of life satisfaction.
Descriptors: Life Satisfaction, Racial Segregation, Democracy, Quality of Life, Vision, Trend Analysis, Housing, Foreign Countries, Local Government, Social Change, Questionnaires, Racial Differences, Surveys, Social Indicators
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A