Recent News

The 2010 Quality of Life Survey results are now available.

The biennial Quality of Life survey measures the perceptions of over 6,000 residents living in eight of the country’s largest cities, from Auckland to Dunedin. The survey is a collaborative project across the cities involved in the broader Quality of Life project.  It includes a variety of issues including perceptions of quality of life and health, crime and safety, social issues in their local area, public transport, community and social networks. A comprehensive report is now available as well as reports for each of the participating cities and indivdual sections.

Next Quality of Life Report

Impacts of recent events

Planning for the next Quality of Life report has been temporarily put on hold following the devastating earthquakes in Christchurch of February 2011, and the cancellation of the 2011 Census of Population and Dwellings. It is anticipated that planning will commence again once we have a clearer understanding of the timing of the next national Census.

Full Quality of Life Reports

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The Quality of Life Project was initiated in response to growing pressures on urban communities, concern about the impacts of urbanisation and the effects of this on the well being of residents.

The key purpose of the Project is to:

• Provide information to decision-makers to improve the quality of life in major New Zealand urban areas.

Objectives of the Project include:

• Consistency of indicator use and monitoring methods among participating cities
• Provision of data to support advocacy on urban issues
• Raising the profile of urban issues within central government
• Collaborative working of bigger cities to monitor and address quality of life issues.
• Monitoring across the cities enables participating councils to develop a consistent set of indicators, identify urban issues and trends, and provide a platform to develop comprehensive responses to these.

Quality of Life Project Structure

Contributing Data:	Quality of Life Survey (e.g. Resident perceptions of wellbeing) Survey is conducted biennially	Data from Secondary Sources (e.g. Government agencies, councils, etc) Data is collected on an ongoing basis
Reporting Framework:	Quality of Life Report 12 cities joint report is released once every five years following release of new census data. Quality of Life Survey A report on Quality of Life Survey results is released every two years
Advocacy:	Metropolitan Sector Group advocacy to central government on urban issues Advocacy occurs on an ongoing basis through the Metropolitan Sector Group work programme and through contributions to central and local government decision making processes
	Improved quality of life and wellbeing outcomes for 12 cities residents

The Project includes the following Eight Cities

The Quality of Life Project was established in 1999 to provide social, economic and environmental indicators of quality of life in New Zealand’s six largest cities. The Quality of Life Project has since expanded to include eight cities in New Zealand which account for almost 58% of the total population of New Zealand. The newest participant in the Quality of Life Project is the new Auckland Council which was established on 1 November 2010 following the amalgamation of eight local authorities in the wider Auckland region.  Prior to the formation of the new Auckland Council the Quality of Life Project included a total of twelve local authorities including five from the wider Auckland region.  Any references to 'the twelve cities' contained on this website or in any historical reports refer to those cities participating in the Project before the formation of the new Auckland Council.

Auckland Pop 1,305,018 Hutt Pop 97,710 Hamilton Pop 129,255 Wellington Pop 179,466 Tauranga Pop 103,629 Christchurch Pop 348,435 Porirua Pop 48,537 Dunedin Pop 118,686