uk Mailing List: Britain happiest places mapped... :D

[Dwiriana Setiati (dwiriana.setiati]

 Britain's happiest places mapped
   By Matt McGrath
 BBC World Service environment reporter

  [image: Edinburgh Castle] Edinburgh is famous for its comedy festival and
impressive castle

*The most sparsely populated county in Wales is where you will find
Britain's happiest place, say researchers.*

Powys tops the list of 273 districts, with Edinburgh apparently the most
miserable place in Britain.

Eight of the top 10 districts with the highest levels of wellbeing are in
Scotland or the north of England.

But the team from the Universities of Sheffield and Manchester stress that
happiness is more a product of personal circumstances than physical
location.

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey, where people were asked
about their sense of wellbeing, the researchers were able to draw up a map
of happiness down to district level across England, Scotland and Wales.

After adding in factors such as employment, health and educational
qualifications, the team found that Brecknock, Montgomery and Radnor in
Powys was the happiest place.

Manchester came second, followed by West Lothian. Macclesfield, Nottingham
and Falkirk were all in the top 10.

The London borough of Sutton was one of the few places in the south of
England to do well.

Edinburgh, despite its cosmopolitan reputation and internationally acclaimed
fringe festival, was bottom of the list.
  MOST CHEERFUL PLACES
1. Powys
2. Manchester
3. West Lothian
4. Cumbernault and Kilsyth and Monklands
5. Macclesfield
 *Source: British Household Panel Survey*

The former coal mining district of Rhondda Cynon Taff in south Wales was
second from bottom, while Swansea and Doncaster also did poorly.

*Small differences*

However, the researchers stress that the variations between different places
in Britain are not statistically significant.

Factors such as social cohesion seem to be more important than location.
Researcher Dr Dimitris Ballas, a senior lecturer in Geography from the
University of Sheffield, said: "One of the advantages of our method is that
it takes into account both people and places.

"For instance, with unemployment we can say that people who are unemployed
are on average happier in an area of high unemployment compared to being
unemployed in an area where everyone else around you has a job.

"This highlights the issue of social justice and cohesion."

Another important factor in determining happiness was the length of time
that a person spent living in a place.
  LEAST CHEERFUL PLACES
1. Edinburgh
2. Cynon Valley and Rhondda
3. Amber Valley and north east Derbyshire
4. Clydesdale; Cumnock and Doon Valley; Kyle and Carrick
5. Swansea

Staying in an area for five years or longer was an important indicator of
well being, said the scientists.

According to Dr Ballas, the state of interpersonal relationships was also
seen as highly important.

And this was more often the case in areas which were there was less
inequality between people.

"From what I've seen so far my view is that if an area is more socially
cohesive it increases your chances of having good quality of interpersonal
relationships and a good social network.

"If you live in an area which is very unequal and polarised then you are
less likely to have good social networks and friends.

"To what extent we can talk about happy people or happy places? Is it the
place or the people? My guess would be it's a bit of both.

"The variance that is attributed to the place you live in is perhaps higher
than our research suggests, your immediate surroundings are very important
in terms of happiness.

"But we don't have data on neighbourhoods yet."
The research was presented at the annual conference of the Royal
Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers.

-- 
Miss Dwiriana Setiati MSc., MIET

Leeds, United Kingdom

Mobile: +447783520971