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Sustainability
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Quality of Life in the Context of Sustainable Development
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Quality of Life in the Context of Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 September 2025 | Viewed by 2837

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mathematical Applications in Economics, Faculty of Economics, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Poland
Interests: applications of mathematical methods in economics; statistics; cluster analysis; regional development; sustainable development; quality of life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Anna Oleńczuk-Paszel

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Real Estate, Faculty of Economics, West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Poland
Interests: real estate market; housing conditions; real estate transactions; spatial planning; sustainable development; regional development; quality of life
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Research into the relationship between quality of life and sustainability is gaining increasing attention given the global challenges and the need to meet sustainability commitments.

Interest in the issue of quality of life dates back to the early 1960s. Since then, many expressions and definitions of this concept have been created by representatives of various scientific disciplines. It has been noted that the satisfaction a person derives from life depends not only on the material possessions he or she has, but also on the possibility of fulfilling higher needs, such as a sense of security, opportunities for self-realisation or a state of mind. Quality of life is often equated with a sense of happiness and satisfaction with life and is related to the environment in which human needs are realized. Two approaches to quality of life emerge in the literature: the objective approach, according to which quality of life is the objective conditions of life, and the subjective approach identified with the satisfaction people derive from the different spheres of their lives. Quality of life is a relative and complex concept that refers to many different aspects of human existence. It is co-created by a wide variety of elements, including but not limited to the state of the environment, broadly understood wealth, health and safety, interpersonal relations and participation in the life of a community. A high quality of life is an overarching objective of the concept of sustainable development, the essence of which is precisely a sustainable improvement in the quality of life for present and future generations, achieved by shaping the right balance in the management of three types of capital: economic, social and natural.

The link between quality of life and sustainability is crucial, as the two concepts intersect and complement each other. Sustainability is based on three pillars: economic, social and environmental, each of which has a direct impact on the quality of life of individuals and communities. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

  • Study of quality of life in relation to current global challenges;
  • Quality of life at the global, national and local levels and the implementation of the SDGs;
  • Using artificial intelligence as a tool to identify similarities between definitions of quality of life and sustainability;
  • Interactions between SDGs with a focus on SDG3;
  • Measuring quality of life and proposing quality of life indicators in relation to sustainable development;
  • The impact of the environment on the quality of life;
  • Climate change and quality of life;
  • The impact of green areas on quality of life;
  • The impact of social inequalities on the quality of life;
  • Transition to a green economy and quality of life;
  • Ecological consumption patterns and the quality of life of individuals and communities;
  • Sustainable cities and the quality of life of their inhabitants;
  • Research on sustainable agriculture and food production and their impact on quality of life, especially in the context of access to healthy and safe food;
  • Legal aspects of sustainable development and quality of life.  

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła
Dr. Anna Oleńczuk-Paszel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • quality of life
  • sustainable development
  • sustainable cities
  • infrastructure
  • renewable energy resources
  • protection of the environment
  • climate change
  • legal aspects of sustainable development and quality of life

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 3122 KiB  
Article
Spatial Analysis of Medical Service Accessibility in the Context of Quality of Life and Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Olsztyn County, Poland
by Iwona Cieślak, Bartłomiej Eźlakowski, Andrzej Biłozor and Adam Senetra
Sustainability 2025, 17(15), 6687; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17156687 - 22 Jul 2025
Viewed by 209
Abstract
This study investigates the accessibility of public healthcare services in Olsztyn County, a major urban center in the Warmia and Mazury region of Poland. The aim was to develop a methodological framework using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and spatial data to assess [...] Read more.
This study investigates the accessibility of public healthcare services in Olsztyn County, a major urban center in the Warmia and Mazury region of Poland. The aim was to develop a methodological framework using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools and spatial data to assess the local availability of healthcare infrastructure. The analysis included key facilities such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and specialized outpatient services. A spatial accessibility indicator was constructed to evaluate and compare access levels across municipalities. The results show a clear disparity between urban and rural areas, with significantly better access in cities. Several rural municipalities were found to have limited or no access to essential healthcare services. These findings highlight the uneven spatial distribution of medical infrastructure and point to the need for targeted strategies to improve service availability in underserved areas. The proposed methodological approach may support future studies and inform local and regional planning aimed at reducing healthcare inequalities and improving access for all residents, regardless of their location. This research contributes to the growing body of evidence emphasizing the role of spatial analysis in assessing public service accessibility and supports the development of more equitable healthcare systems at the local level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quality of Life in the Context of Sustainable Development)
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31 pages, 1828 KiB  
Article
Stochastic Modelling in Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Quality of Life—The Case of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland
by Marta Szaja and Paweł Ziemba
Sustainability 2025, 17(5), 1966; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17051966 - 25 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 527
Abstract
Authorities of self-government units, having autonomy in determining the directions of development of their area, can try to use their potential in an optimal way. The actions taken should consequently lead to the creation of the best possible living conditions for the local [...] Read more.
Authorities of self-government units, having autonomy in determining the directions of development of their area, can try to use their potential in an optimal way. The actions taken should consequently lead to the creation of the best possible living conditions for the local community. The aim of this article is to verify the hypothesis that the geographical location of self-government units affects the quality of life (QoL) of their inhabitants. Moreover, attempts were made to answer research questions regarding the counties of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship offering conditions ensuring the highest QoL. For this purpose, on the basis of a previously prepared set of criteria and their expert weights, county rankings were developed using the PROMETHEE method. The results of the expert approach were confronted with the results of the stochastic analysis taking into account the uncertainty of the preference model. Based on the results of this research, it was found that the leading positions in terms of QoL in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship were taken by cities with county rights, i.e., Szczecin, Koszalin, and Swinoujscie. At the forefront of counties with the highest QoL were also counties whose capitals were cities with the largest population in the voivodeship. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quality of Life in the Context of Sustainable Development)
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25 pages, 913 KiB  
Article
Housing Conditions and the Quality of Life of the Populations of the European Union Countries
by Anna Oleńczuk-Paszel and Agnieszka Sompolska-Rzechuła
Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1550; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041550 - 13 Feb 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1257
Abstract
Quality of life (QoL) as a category, which is an overarching goal of sustainable development, dependent on many factors both objective and subjective, should be subjected to constant monitoring in various spatial, temporal and thematic arrangements. This study assesses the spatial differentiation of [...] Read more.
Quality of life (QoL) as a category, which is an overarching goal of sustainable development, dependent on many factors both objective and subjective, should be subjected to constant monitoring in various spatial, temporal and thematic arrangements. This study assesses the spatial differentiation of European Union countries in terms of QoL and housing conditions (HCs) of their populations. Interactions between the studied phenomena were also determined. A multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method—the TOPSIS method—and Spearman rank correlation coefficients were used to achieve the objectives of this study. The analysis was conducted using 2019 and 2022 data from the Eurostat database (including the EU-SILC survey) and TheGlobalEconomy.com. The research showed that the housing conditions and QoL of the populations of EU countries vary spatially, being more favorable in Austria, Ireland and Slovenia and the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland and Sweden and less favorable in Greece and some of the countries that joined the EU in 2004 and in 2007, viz. Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania. This study noted a very strong positive correlation between the positions of countries in the rankings created with QoL in 2019 and 2022 (0.947) and with living conditions in the years under study (0.828), as well as a rather weak correlation between QoL and HCs in both 2019 (0.272) and 2022 (0.292). This article fills a research gap because, to our knowledge, the indicated phenomena have not been analyzed to date in the contexts presented in this article. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Quality of Life in the Context of Sustainable Development)
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