URBAN-RURAL DIFFERENCES IN SUBJECTIVE QUALITY OF LIFE IN DEHUI

The subjective quality of life (QOL) can reflect differences in perceptions of residents and their true state of life. Taking Dehui City of northeast China as a case, based on 482 questionnaires from urban and rural residents, this paper evaluated the subjective QOL from three views, i.e. the attitude of residents to the objective material conditions where they live in, the satisfaction with various emotional relationships and the degree of concern about future unpredictable conditions. The purpose of this paper is to compare the subjective QOL of urban and rural residents and find out the key influencing factors, which will help the government to make precise measures to narrow the gap between urban and rural development in China. The results showed that the overall satisfaction of urban and rural residents in Dehui City with the basic living conditions, emotions and unknown conditions is generally higher. However, there are significant differences between urban and rural residents about the satisfaction with the basic living conditions and the degree of concern about unknown conditions. The subjective QOL of most rural residents is not ideal, and the degree of satisfaction of urban residents and rural residents who live near the urban center of Dehui and the provincial capital Changchun is slightly higher than those of the rural areas in northwestern Dehui. Social security, diversification of family income, improvement of regional environment, and family economic foundation are important factors in improving the subjective QOL of urban residents, while social security and regional environmental improvement have positively promoted the subjective QOL of rural residents.