Quality of Life assessment as a measure of urban sustainable development.The case of Cienfuegos’scity in Cuba

Abstract

The new Cuban economic and social model presupposes a greater decentralization of economic and governmental functions and, therefore, greater attributions to local goverments. The quality of urban life is addressed as an objective of local governance in terms of achieving sustainable urban development. For its evaluation, a methodological procedure supported by the Urban Life Quality Index is proposed, which consists of four dimensions: social, economic, infrastructure and environmental services for the first-order cities in Cuba. This procedure was validated through its experimental application in the city of Cienfuegos as a case study representative of its kind in Cuba. The indicators that allow the evaluation of the quality of urban life in this city were also identified, as well as the weighting of the constituent factors and the specific weights of the indices applying the analytical hierarchical process.