This book introduces a quality of life index that compares the intra-urban particularities of 23 cities in the Argentine Republic. Integrating demographic size, functional specialization, and regional location, the chapters employ a standard set of variables to assess socioeconomic and environmental inequality and wellbeing.
A result of collaboration between 33 contributors from institutions around the country, the book provides a rich assessment of the mechanisms and processes by which the residential areas of Argentinian cities form, change, develop, and decline. Consistent measures of education, health, housing, and environmental wellbeing allow for deep examinations of each area and meaningful comparisons between them.
The book also explores patterns that recur in multiple cases. Redevelopment and renewal processes in central and old areas of cities can lead to the creation or reenergization of modern, high-density neighborhoods that, benefitting from new construction and integrated commercial and service areas, exhibit high quality of life indices. Urban expansion stands out as a process that often results in or reinforces socio-spatial segregation: New, exclusive, low-density residential neighborhoods with single-family homes and green areas tend to have a high level of quality of life, thanks to good education, health services, housing, and natural amenities. In contrast, low-income neighborhoods with precarious housing, limited access to health and education services, and unfavorable environments exhibit lower quality of life measures. Increasingly common gated communities--with private security, exclusive services, and (internally) shared recreational spaces--reinforce this pattern of segregation.
Analyzing the quality of life in different Argentinian cities is important to understanding the living conditions of the inhabitants, identifying areas for improvement, and supporting the development of inclusive and sustainable policies. These measurements can facilitate more just and prosperous environments for all citizens.
Dr. Santiago Linares
He is a professor of Geography, with a Master's degree in Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems from the National University of the Center of the Province of Buenos Aires (UNCPBA) and a PhD in Geography from the National University of the South (UNS). His research topics relate to the modelling and analysis of urban space and applications of Geographic Information Systems to research in Geography and to various spheres of territorial planning. He is an Adjunct Researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) of Argentina. He is a member of the Institute of Geography, History and Social Sciences (IGEHCS) dependent on CONICET-UNCPBA. He is a professor at the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Human Sciences (UNCPBA), in charge of the courses related to the application of Geographic Information Technologies and quantitative spatial analysis. He has participated in and directed several institutionally accredited research projects, has taught training and postgraduate courses on research and spatial analysis with GIS, participates as a member of national and international networks on Geographic Information Systems, and is also responsible for extension and transfer projects where geotechnologies are applied to the solution of socioeconomic and environmental problems in various municipalities of Argentina.
Dra. Claudia Andrea Mikkelsen
Associate Researcher of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET). Member of the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (INHUS), of the Population and Territory Studies Group (GESPyT), Faculty of Humanities, National University of Mar del Plata and of the Center for Geographical Research (CIG), Faculty of Human Sciences, National University of the Center of the Province of Buenos Aires. Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Human Sciences, Universidad Nacional del Centro, Tandil and Head of Practical Works, Faculty of Humanities, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Argentina. Field of study: quality of life, rural space, quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
Dr. Guillermo Angel Velázquez
Guillermo Velázquez is a geographer, a graduate of a public university. He has directed various projects on geography and quality of life in Argentina, in which colleagues from various disciplines from all over the country participated. His interest in the study of socio-territorial inequalities began with his own doctoral thesis, which focused on the explanation of differential mortality based on occupation and place of residence in the case of Tandil. From there he incorporated other significant dimensions - related to health, education, housing, environmental problems and recreational resources - to propose a Quality of Life Index (QLI) that reflects a numerical synthesis of these dimensions for Argentina with the highest level of territorial analysis possible. From 1869 to the beginning of the 21st century he worked with the scale of departments and communes, while from 2010 he did so with census radii. Within the framework of these projects, he has published numerous works in scientific journals, books, conferences, as well as carried out various management, coordination, evaluation, linkage and transfer tasks, mainly for the public sector.
