Quantifying the impact of urban physical provisioning systems and environmental attributes on subjective wellbeing: insights from Chennai, India

Quantitatively understanding how physical provisioning systems (energy, mobility, shelter, water, waste management, greenery) and environmental conditions (pollution, noise, extreme heat) shape subjective well-being (SWB) is central to decoupling human well-being from natural resource use, especially in urban areas where most of the world’s population resides. Yet, large-N urban surveys that measure both evaluative and emotional SWB and methods to quantitatively unpack infrastructure and environmental impacts from well-known social systems and individual factors (e.g., age, income, employment) are lacking. This paper advances both areas through a case study in India, the world’s most populous and a rapidly urbanizing nation. (1) We developed a novel survey instrument, tested in Chennai, India, capturing SWB from 2,400 metropolitan residents alongside satisfaction with > 40 physical and social provisioning systems, environmental attributes, and individual-level variables. Metro Chennai’s average Cantril Ladder and Happiness scores were 7.13 and 7.62, comparable to developed nations and far above the Indian average. (2) We applied three complementary methods to quantify SWB impacts of urban physical provisioning systems and environmental attributes: (a) Ordered logistic regression shows household and neighborhood infrastructure (e.g., home size, cooling, sidewalks) can be as influential as social and personal variables; (b) Income-stratified propensity score matching quantified effect sizes, with household and neighborhood infrastructure and environment yielding 0.9–1.14 point SWB improvements, increasing to 2 points for the lowest-income residents for household infrastructure; (c) Split regression identified foundational, consistently important, or added bonus attributes, revealing home size, electricity, heating/cooling, water supply, internet/phone, air quality, and noise as SWB-enhancing priorities.