Proposta de Indicadores para a Qualidade de Vida no Município de São Paulo

Abstract

This paper describes the efforts of the researchers of the Quality of Life Research Centre (NPQV) who have been interested in searching an objective way of measuring the quality of life of population of São Paulo, one of most important cities of Latin America. To this purpose, it was selected seven dimensions of the quality of life as long as they generate disaggregated information which enable to construct a measure of the quality of life for small geographic units - the “subprefeituras” (e. g. administrative areas of the city). The selected dimensions were: 1. culture and leisure, 2. health, 3. security, 4. education, 5. income and labor, 6. housing and 7. infrastructure and environment. The data sources are Censo 2000 microdata and other official surveys. The Quality of Life Economic Index (IEQV) is a proxy for well-being. In order to obtain the index, it was applied factor analysis which allowed estimating the weight of each dimension. According to this index, it was possible to rank the “subprefeituras” from the lowest to the highest levels of well-being. In this ranking, the “subprefeituras” of Parelheiros, M’Boi Mirim, Cidade Ademar and Socorro had the worst results, whereas Pinheiros, Vila Mariana, Lapa and Santo Amaro shown the best quality of life in relative terms.

Keywords

• social welfare
• quality of life
• factor analysis
• urban vulnerabilities
• economic index