Rural Quality Of Life Case Study

3. Case studies

a. Rural change and individual well-being: the case of Ireland and rural quality of life
The first case study is provided by Brereton F., Bullock C., Clinch J. P. and Scott M., from the Urban Institute of Ireland, University College Dublin. The article was published in the “European Urban and Regional Studies Journal”, in 2011.
The research’s aim was to evaluate how the rural changes that occurred in the last two decades have affected the rural welfare and the quality of life in Ireland, while the main objectives were to assess the Ireland’s rural quality of life, to analyse the determinants of the quality of life, as well as to compare the residents’ attitude regarding the provision of services and facilities, highlighting

The first two locations were chosen taking into consideration their characteristics, particularly a rural settlement in the north-west affected by the effects of immigration process and by its own development tension, plus another rural location in the south, with a more stable population’s situation. In addition, a focus group was also organized in Dublin’s suburban area. The recruitment process was based firstly on the age criteria, being selected people from the age range of 20-65, and secondly were recruited both long-standing inhabitants along with immigrants. The participants were interrogated about how the infrastructure, services and the environmental components had an impact in their personal quality of life (Brereton et al., 2011, p.

In consonance with the information obtained, the main benefits for rural areas are features such as: “peaceful”, “clean, fresh air”, “space”, “freedom”, “privacy” (for the year 2001) and “peaceful”, “privacy”, “space” and “clean and fresh air” (for the year 2007). However, the major limitations of rural living are the access of public transport, the distance from facilities and services, the isolation and the lack of shops and social activities (both in 2001 and 2007). Ultimately, the most important problems in rural areas are the access to public transport, access to health services, access to social facilities, access to commercial spaces and the high cost of housing (Brereton et al., 2011, pp.