Multidimensional well-being for better life

In Nichomachean Ethics, an ethical doctrine of how to live, Aristotle's view of individual happiness points to objective aspects such as virtue and highest utility for a well-lived (happy) life. This can be accomplished by one's self-realization, i.e. eudaimonia, as reported by Ryff and Singer (2008). On the other hand, short term or hedonic prosperity is essentially how a person feels about his life. Much of the work on subjective well-being, built on philosophical views, stems from these two main perspectives (Ryan and Deci 2001; Aslam and Corrado, 2012; Huta 2015). Effects on subjective well-being at micro level (within the province) were calculated with logit, ordered logit and generalized ordinal logit models using Stata, each of which consists of a dependent latent subjective well-being and five independent categorical variables. The thesis first assesses the differences in the spatial effects over time-framed happiness to find out whether time frame is a determinant of the significance; and second, it investigates the effects of socio-economic, social capital and spatial variables over subjective well-being components such as happiness, life satisfaction and quality of life. Overall evidence indicates that (1) socio-economic, social capital, perceived spatial factors are more significant than objective spatial factors explaining all six subjective well-being components (2) there are some pairwise differences in the spatial effects on happiness; (3) spatial effect is stronger in explaining happiness in one week than the other measures of subjective well-being; (4) the effect of neighborhood safety on all components except quality of life is stronger than that of the cost of housing; (5) spatial factors are more significant than socio-economic and social capital factors for happiness; (6) the quality of life, present happiness, general happiness and life satisfaction show no objective spatial significance in the absence of Gini coefficient; (7) trust in people is more important than the frequency of social contact for all components; (8) on all subjective well-being components, the effect of health status was stronger than that of socio-economic variables; and (9) Gini coefficient (income inequality) was mostly associated with life satisfaction and general happiness, while the absolute poverty line was associated with happiness and quality of life. This thesis is expected to contribute to the literature of developing countries by showing the significance of spatial effects over hedonic happiness and multidimensional well-being. The outcomes suggest that authorities discuss all aspects of well-being and generate new policies to enhance well-being of Adana residents. The idea/expectation that the results will contribute to the solution of urban problems and that the solutions will reflect on the macro level reveals the original value of this thesis.