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RESEARCH PRODUCT

An Approach to Measuring Perceived Quality of Life in the City Through a Formative Multidimensional Perspective

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Cities compete to attract multinational companies, more tourism flows and to improve the quality of life of citizens. From a public service orientation, perceived quality of life should become a strategic input. In the last decades, scientists offered several alternative approaches to defining and measuring quality of life: social indicators, subjective measures and economic indices all with their strengths and weaknesses. This chapter conceptualizes and operationalizes perceived quality of life in the city from the perspective of its residents, proposing and validating a new measure with six dimensions through a formative index. The conceptual model and the hypotheses are tested using Partial Least Squares approach to Structural Equation Models based on 200 personal interviews to Italian residents from Latina. The results corroborate that residents’ perceived quality of life can be measured with a formative construct with six dimensions: perceived standard of living, quality of health care, educational services, perception of safety, infrastructure and environment. All dimensions are decisive in the city perceived quality of life formation. The key benefit derived from this framework is that it provides a more robust model for understanding the dynamics of this variable. The paper concludes by considering the implications for academics and authorities responsible for the strategic management of cities committed with a public service orientation.