The Quality of Life Project was initiated over 20 years ago in response to concerns about the impacts of urbanisation on the wellbeing of residents and communities.

The project was a collaboration between councils represented in Local Government New Zealand’s Local Government Metro Sector forum.

The key purpose of the project was to provide information to decision-makers to improve the quality of life in major New Zealand urban areas.

Although the last full Quality of Life report was prepared in 2007 the Quality of Life Survey is still undertaken every two years as a collaborative local government project. Benefits include:

• The Quality of Life survey is distinct from annual resident ‘opinion’ or ‘satisfaction’ surveys which are often concerned with council services rather than wider perceptions
• the results are directly comparable between council areas and over time  
• the results are used by councils in monitoring wellbeing in their areas
• there are cost efficiencies for participating in a joint survey.

Twenty years after the project first started, the Quality of Life survey is more important than ever for participating councils’ ability to understand what is impacting on residents quality of life and to identify areas that need to be focused on.

Results of the 2020 survey are available here »