Experience in using a sociological survey to evaluate comfort of the living environment for the population

Introduction: The uniqueness of the problem of establishing the comfort of an urban environment is related to its multifactorial nature owing to the fact that physicochemical factors having a potential combined effect on the human body are involved in creating a comfortable urban environment in addition to social ones. Comfort assessment questionnaires traditionally include social questions on satisfaction with the living environment.

Objective: To evaluate comprehensive perception of the comfort of living by urban population. Materials and methods: The online population survey was conducted from July to September 2024 at https://rusarctic.com. The answers of 254 respondents from 38 settlements of 15 constituent entities of the Russian Federation were then analyzed in Microsoft Excel and visualized using ESRI ArcGIS 9.3.

Results: We established that 43.3 % and 51.2 % of the respondents considered climate and environmental conditions comfortable for living, respectively. Less than 9.0 % of them lived near industrial enterprises and major sources of traffic noise. The reasons for living in the current settlement included it being the place of birth, followed by housing, work, relatives and friends. In the opinion of 81.9 % of the respondents, air and water pollution, high levels of exposure to road traffic noise, and lack of public services and social amenities reduced the overall comfort level. The measures suggested to enhance comfort included improvement of the quality of environmental factors and landscaping.

Discussion: The respondents noted poor climate conditions, lack of landscaping, drinking water pollution, and traffic noise as the reasons for reduced comfort. Those who found it difficult to appraise the comfort of living reported high-quality modern conveniences in populated areas, low noise levels, clean ambient air and drinking water.

Conclusion: The questionnaire-based survey allowed us to make a comprehensive evaluation of the comfort of living for the population. A more detailed analysis of satisfaction with living conditions that takes into account the combined effect of environmental factors will be feasible after modifying the questionnaire and surveying a larger number of respondents to improve representativeness.

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