What Does Quality of Life Mean in a Diverse City?

This event was held as part of the ‘Jerusalem Tolerance Week’. The event focused on different perceptions regarding ‘life quality’ in a shared city.

Quality of life is a general term pertaining to the evaluation of all aspects of the standard of living of a society, community and individuals. It is a far-reaching term, with diverse interpretations resulting from cultural and individual differences. The EU, for instance, defines quality of life as “Human wellbeing as measured based on social indicators, as opposed to quantitative ones pertaining to income and output”. During the event, we tackled the question: How do people living in Jerusalem perceive the concept of “quality of life”?

Tal Kliegman, project manager and group facilitator at the Jerusalem Intercultural Center opened the event. 

Michal Korach, from the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, presented a study entitled “Quality of Life Indicators in Jerusalem – a Subjective Analysis“. The study examined quality of life indicators among the city’s three largest populations and found that some of the prominent components in the definition of ‘quality of life’ were identical among all populations in the city. For instance, recurring issues included a more efficient public transport system and the desire for a clean city. However, each of the populations ranked the various components differently.

Three speakers from Jerusalem’s different communities presented reactions to the research:

Shaike El-Ami, manager of the Ginot Ha’Ir (City Gardens) community council – spoke of community and social involvement as a force for improving quality of life in the big city. Community involvement is a prominent indicator of quality of life, impacted by the extent of residents’ involvement.

Ezadeen El-Saad, manager of the East Jerusalem desk at the Jerusalem Intercultural Center, spoke about East Jerusalem’s alleyways and the glass ceiling, which influence all levels of life quality. This includes very basic issues – such as electricity and water infrastructure – which are still significantly lacking in some of the neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city.

Yisrael Isaacs, chairman of the Geula-Bucharim community council, spoke of community activity as an indicator of quality of life. She presented the unique needs of the ultra-Orthodox population arising from the urban density in certain neighborhoods and the huge importance of public involvement in municipal decisions pertaining to various areas of life (such as the light rail, planning of playgrounds, etc.).

The event is part of the “Barutina” project – a series of small, regular and unique cultural events creating a new cultural scene in many areas, including performing arts, academy and research, sustainability and environmental protection, plastic arts, social initiatives, poetry, literature and press, media, cinema, technology, design, Jewish renewal, and culinary arts. In collaboration with the Youth Authority, Jerusalem Municipality.