My aim is to spatially link longitudinal panel datasets with environmental data to explore the impact of the natural environment and environmental quality on life satisfaction and well-being. well-being and environmental policy-making both in urban and rural areas, and contributes to the environmental quality and greenspace literature regarding the impacts of nature on human well-being.
Currently I’m using data from Understanding asia rcs data Society and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) available to download from the UK Data Service. These are longitudinal panel datasets that repeatedly ask the same individuals the same (and additional) questions through time, following them geographically wherever they move to. Individuals are asked about their social and economic circumstances, attitudes, behaviours and health so these datasets provide a fascinating insight into the lives of adults in the UK.
I am using the location identifiers of individuals in these datasets to link them with other freely available environmental, demographic and socio-economic data. These large governmental datasets also change through time and across space and include air quality measurements, Indices of Multiple Deprivation, and major road traffic counts. Using multi-dimensional data like this, which is clustered spatially is a fantastic way of combining survey data with other existing secondary data sources and is helping to improve our understanding of causality between human well-being and the environment. My approach has the potential to highlight geographies and/or demographics that are more affected by changes in their physical and ecological environment.