Are Cities Decisive for Life Satisfaction? A Structural Equation Model for the European Population

Abstract The growth of cities is an unstoppable phenomenon that began in the last century and will undoubtedly be one of the challenges of the current century. It is not only a question of urbanization; its implications and consequences extend to the economy, society, culture and the environment. The capacity of cities as engines of change and progress cannot be questioned, and its consequences will alter the lives of their citizens, who will search, in a more liquid world, for the best places to live. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of perception of urban quality (PUQ) and social trust and security (STS) on the life satisfaction (LS) of European citizens to find out if these variables are essential for the population living in Europe. The data were selected from the European Urban Audit survey, which covers 40,597 people living in 80 European cities. The analysis in this study is carried out at the city level. The partial least squares structural equation modelling approach was applied to verify the hypotheses. The findings reveal a positive correlation between PUQ and STS with LS, with STS being a mediator between PUQ and LS. These results underline that improving the perception of the urban environment can significantly increase well-being, contributing more than 70% to citizens' life satisfaction. This multidisciplinary analysis highlights the importance of considering various urban dimensions in planning and public policies to foster prosperous and satisfactory urban development.