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UNDERSTANDING QUALITATIVE
CONCEPTIONS OF LIVABILITY: AN
INDIAN PERSPECTIVE
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IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308
1
Assistant Professor, School of Planning and Architecture Bhopal, Planning Department, M.P., India,
rama.ukp@gmail.com
2
Professor, Architecture and Planning Department, MANIT Bhopal, M.P., India, yogeshkgarg@gmail.com
3
Professor, Architecture and Planning Department, MANIT Bhopal, M.P., India, alka_bharat@yahoo.com
Abstract
Livability encompasses numerous factors that depend on locally prevailing economic, social and cultural circumstances and therefore
becomes necessary to contextualize livability by enlarging focus beyond generic attributes. Livability now a day is pre-requisite for
healthy living coupled with economic and social survival therefore, is very important for improving the quality of life.The aim of this
paper is to understand qualitative conceptions of livability in an Indian context. A metropolitan city of India with emerging growth
potential for real estate development is selected for the study. Inhabitants of residential areas were asked to freely express their
understanding of livability. The observations, comments and statements made by inhabitants were recorded and later transcribed.
Care was taken to ensure that, as far as possible, the sense of participants’ comments was not altered. A qualitative research
approach was used to analyze these responses of inhabitants. An iterative process of data interpretation was undertaken to discern the
common factors and important aspects, arising from inhabitant’s perceptions of livability. The responses of inhabitants suggest
various ways and provide direction for identification of livability attributes that are important in contributing towards livability in
Indian perspective. Overall twenty categories of responses were identified as livability attributes which summarizes the conceptions
of livability as understood by inhabitants. to define in the limited number of qualitatively different ways, in which people experience,
interpret, understand, perceive or conceptualize a phenomenon or certain aspect of reality with a minimum of researcher’s
interference
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1. INTRODUCTION
The paper explores and understands inhabitants‟ perception
Livability refers to the state of living environment, which of the livability in Indian context. The objective is to
should offer an acceptable quality of life to the residents of identify livability attributes after thoroughly analyzing the
a particular locale. Livability depends on the locally recorded statements and observations made by inhabitants
prevailing economic, social and cultural conditions. In the for their understanding of livability. The responses asked
US, livability refers to overall „quality of life‟ and „well are for expressing the desires and expectations to making a
being‟, whereas in UK, livability focuses strictly on local residential area a livable habitat.
environment i.e. cleanliness, safety and greenery [1]. In
Indian context the livability differs slightly from concept of 1.1 Understanding Livability
developed countries though the essence remains the same.
According to Confederation of Indian Industries [2] report Livability refers to the living conditions of a place and
“developed countries take certain facilities for granted reflects people‟s perception of the place to be fit for living
while having the same facilities becomes an attractive or not. Though the interpretation of livability varies with
preposition for Indian people. Wheeler [3] argues that the time and place but the concept seems to share terms like
most important element in discussions of liveability is the “quality of life”, “well-being” and “life satisfaction” all
subjective experience of living in particular places. The across [1]. Pacione [4] suggested livability to be a quality
perception of local populace about livability is important in that is not an attribute inherent in the environment but is
identifying key attributes of livability which in turn will be behaviour-related function of the interaction between
useful in assessing the livability. environmental characteristics and personal characteristics.
Veenhoven [5] equated “livability” with “habitability” and
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“quality of life” in the nation. He argued that livability is the 2. RESEARCH APPROACH
degree to which its provisions and requirements fit with the
needs and capacities of its citizens. Livability being a subjective notion, its gamut differs with
different economic, social, cultural and local influences
Australian Bureau of Statistics [6] equates livability to thereby governing the inhabitants‟ impression and
quality of life, which is linked strongly to (sometimes perception about livability [8]. Hence, for the purpose, an
synonymous with) wellbeing and can also be used in a Indian city representing various facets relating to culture,
collective sense to describe how well a society satisfies religion, caste, creed etc. of Indian society was selected
people's wants and needs. where more than 60 percent of households represent middle
and lower income groups. Higher income group (HIG),
economically weaker section (EWS) and persons below
M. van Dorst [7], in his research work on livability reported
poverty level (BPL) are not considered as livability
that the ecosystem of the species called human is the living
expectations of HIG class would be more oriented towards
environment. The quality of the match between people and
intangibles like brand value, status symbol etc where as for
their living environment is therefore known as livability. He
EWS and BPL persons, the provision of basic social and
further argues that if the inhabitants can control over their
territory that is outdoor spaces, the neighbourhood can than physical infrastructure would be good enough for livability.
function as an ecosystem that can sustain itself. He had
India is a vast country showcasing social and economic
clarified this through different perspectives on the
diversity among its states and cities. Therefore, a city
relationship between people and environment as well as by
representing various facets relating to culture, religion,
distinguishing the different forms of livability in a caste, creed etc. of Indian society was selected to carry out
neighbourhood. Livability thus denotes the sum total of the research work. Based on above considerations Bhopal,
deliverables available to an individual or set of individuals the capital city of Madhya Pradesh was selected for the
in a particular location, leading to their contentment in day
study. Bhopal being centrally located in India is well
to day life [8].
connected to other major cities through rail, road and air and
has been attracting peoples from all parts of India, thereby
1.2 Need to Explore Conceptions of Livability giving rise to a very cosmopolitan culture. Historically, it
Livability has become a global necessity for health, has been ruled by both Hindu as well as Muslim rulers,
economic and social survival in agglomerations everywhere which has only added to its evolution into a very pluralistic
[9]. Yuen & Ooi [10] highlighted that cities around the society.In recent times, Bhopal has emerged as one of the
world are re-examining their urban assets and remaking major cities of India and was a part of Confederation of
themselves to enhance competitiveness. Livability and Indian Industry [2] study, “Livability index 2010: The best
vibrancy of the built environment are discussed increasingly cities in India”. The CII livability index 2010 was based on
on a global scale. Greater attention is given to quality of life objective analysis of data collected for top 37 cities of India.
[10]. In the Indian context, owning a house for lower and The study was carried out in the city of Bhopal to
middle income group households is a high point in their life understand how people perceive livability of residential
which comes about after years of wait and curtailing areas.
expenses to save for their “dream home" in a livable
residential area. It is expected by home buyers that A qualitative research approach based on
residential area should reflect their lifestyle that they had phenomenographic methods was adopted. This approach
aspired. Although, norms were already laid down by the allows individuals to freely express their understanding of
government and local bodies for residential development the phenomenon which in the context of this study is
regarding provision of open space, internal roads, building livability. Phenomenography is not just concerned only with
byelaws and social infrastructure but at times they fall well the phenomena being investigated and the people who are
short on measures that are critical in determining the desired experiencing the phenomena but it is also about the relation
livability. between the two, that is, the ways in which people
experience or think about the phenomena [12]. Analysis of
McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report published in April resident‟s response would allow for the identification of the
2010 mentions that “across all major quality of life range of ways in which residents belonging to a particular
indicators, India‟s cities fall well short of delivering even a group of socio economic class understand livability. These
basic standard of living for their residents”[11] thus pointing differing experiences, understandings etc are grouped in
the gravity of the problem in Indian context. terms of categories of description, logically related to each
other, and forming hierarchies in relation to given criteria.
Thereafter a pilot run of the introduction was carried out 3. ANALYSIS OF INHABITANTS’ RESPONSES
soliciting views of few residents to assess their
understanding and reaction after listening to it. It also Responses were collected from thirty-five residential areas,
helped understanding likely duration of interaction and fine which were developed during different time period across
tune the introduction with respect to understanding of the city of Bhopal. It is based on the assumption that
language, technical words etc. Further, in order to have residential areas developed during different time period had
most appropriate responses about interviewees‟ acquired different problems and strengths during the
understanding of livability, it was also felt that they need to process of their development. The oldest residential area
be presented with probing questions such as “What do you selected was about 60 years old and the recent developed
mean?”, “Can you explain that?”, “Why do you feel that?”, residential area was about a year old. In thirty-five
“Can you elaborate it?” and “ Please give some examples?”. residential areas 254 residents were participated. During the
During the pilot run, it was also noticed that interviewee first stage of interaction, participants were interviewed
used to discuss various issues with his family members and individually by the researchers to have a firsthand
keen to get opinion of his wife and children. Even family understanding of phenomenon and to ensure data integrity.
members tried to contribute understanding of livability form Interviewer was as non-intrusive as possible to allow
their own perspective. For example, housewife elaborated participants the freedom to present their own meanings of
on some livability issues of the residential area those were livability.
not emphasized by his husband. Hence it is decided to
Given the fact that interview was conducted in a non-
conduct the interview in groups consisting of 6-8 family
intrusive and free-wheeling manner, the quality of
members of a residential area. The group is so formed that it
responses was not uniform and at times lacked
should have families with different demographic structure
completeness as well. However the idea has been to let the
like unmarried persons, young couple family, couple with
participants speak out and it is left for the researchers to
small kids, couple with teenager kids and Senior citizens,
draw conclusions directly based on the responses or by
almost representing complete life cycle. Care is taken to
trying to read between the lines. The questions were cryptic
include families with housewife and working couple
to allow the participant to express his/her feelings without
families. It was decided to call the selected group at the
any biases. Participants were asked about their preference
home of residential area‟s secretary / president at around
for living in any particular locality provided affordability is
7:00 PM (considering the working Hrs normally up to 6:00
not the criteria. And that why they would prefer to live in a
PM) over a cup of tea for the purpose of interview to make
particular locality, Further, what in their opinion are the
the interaction informal. It was also decided to organize a
factors that affect livability and what factors of livability in
small discussion to sum up the views of all interviewees.
their opinion need to be improved to enhance the livability
Interaction with interviewee‟s was carried out in 2 stages.
in their existing residential area. In second stage of the
Initially, participant (from this point onwards interviewee is
meeting, group discussion among the participants were held
called as participant as it is involved in interview and
to summarize and discuss all the issues raised by them.
discussion) was interviewed individually to establish
his/her understanding of livability using open ended Participants‟ responses were analyzed in terms of their
questions designed to elicit his/her personal experience, perceptions of livability, their understanding of local
understanding and expectation. Later group discussion livability concerns, and their suggestions for how livability
amongst them was conducted on the various livability issues problems should be addressed. In the first phase of analysis,
elaborated by them. the participant‟s statements and observations after group
discussion were analyzed thoroughly by the researchers to
Interviews and discussions were recorded through voice
identify categories for grouping the responses. The process
recorder and later transcribed. Care was taken to ensure that,
is carried out by sequential listening of transcripts of all
as far as possible, the sense of participants‟ comments was
participants and tabulating their responses under major
not altered. Two researchers were involved in the analysis
categories. Tabulation of residential areas is based on the
and interpretation of the data in order to maximize the
sequence in which interaction with participants of various
validity and reliability of the results. An iterative process of
residential areas was conducted and does not depict
data interpretation was undertaken to discern the common
ascending or descending order as per their development
factors and important aspects, arising from inhabitant‟s
time. Categories were created as per the sequence in which
perceptions of livability. The results that emerged from the
participants responded. Overall twenty categories were
responses given by participants are likely to be indicative of
acknowledged through sequential process under which
the attributes which are most important to people in judging
responses are grouped representing the overview of various
livability in an Indian context.
responses given by participants of 35 selected residential
areas. The identified twenty livability attributes are
illustrated in Error! Reference source not found. with
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Volume: 02 Issue: 12 | Dec-2013, Available @ http://www.ijret.org 376
IJRET: International Journal of Research in Engineering and Technology eISSN: 2319-1163 | pISSN: 2321-7308
further regrouping of livability attributes to define administrative offices and city centre, proximity to work
livability. place and easy access for outstation hubs like airport,
railway station and bus stand. Many of the respondents,
Second phase of analysis was carried out to sum up and irrespective of the age groups, emphasized upon the
compile the responses for understanding livability in an importance of location for residential area within the city.
Indian context. In this phase, responses were again Residents, mainly senior citizens, emphasized the
scrutinized and regrouped to understand livability under six importance of proximity to public transport facilities for
categories as shown in Error! Reference source not catering to local travel needs. The participants perceived
found.. During regrouping process professionals and that for livability connectivity to hospitals too is very
academicians were also invited for not to get biased results. important. Many participants also perceived livability of
These six categories presented the overall perceptions of the residential area as its location in terms of its distance from
participants about important elements of livability. their workplace. For few participants‟ scenic beauty in and
around the residential area makes the locality desirable for
living.
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Sense of community and safety is much desired for [4]. Pacione, M, 1990. Urban liveability: a review.
livability which is perceived in Indian perspective through Urban Geogr. 11 (1), 1–30.
like minded people living together. Encroachment on roads [5]. Veenhoven, R, 1999, Quality of life in
and parks along with disturbing elements like liquor shops, individualistic society: A comparison of 43 nations
commercial activities are not desired for safety as well as in the early 1990s, Social Indicators research, vol
ambience reasons. In India, though the basic amenities and 48, 157-186
services are available in most of the residential areas but the [6]. Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission,
facilities are not well maintained and lack the quality, A state of livability: an inquiry into enhancing
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unanimously emphasized on maintaining quality of 2008, viewed 7 December 2010,<
amenities and services provided in residential areas. http://www.vcec.vic.gov.au/CA256EAF001C7B21
Residents felt that the two aspects one, physical /WebObj/VCECLivabilityReport-
infrastructure and public amenities; second, socio- FINALFULLREPORT/$File/VCEC%20Livability
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