Assessing quality of life in India using geospatial tools
Student name: Ms Mridu Prakash
Guide: Dr P K Joshi
Year of completion: 2015
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: Philosophers and thinkers have discussed a “better life†and better society for millennia. In the past decades, scientists have developed many algorithms and approaches to understand the Quality of Life (QoL) and to define it using various indices. This study was undertaken as an attempt to develop an equation to map the QoL for the sub-national scale (district level) in India that require immediate attention of planners and politicians. Here in this study the QoL index was developed using 50 variables taken from the Census of India and Satellite remote sensing data to complete 9 indices representing drinking water infrastructure, ecology, communication facilities, household fuel, source of illumination, household assets, community assets, occupancy of settlements and housing type. These 9 indices represent social, environmental and economic factors determining the QoL. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used throughout to study to integrate 50 variables to 9 indices and finally to determine QoL. This is a synthetic index created and mapped at district level based on weighted factor scores of the 9 indices. Each index is viewed as a unique aspect of QoL. Finally, a spatial autocorrelation analysis (Moran’s I) was done to cluster the correlated areas based on the selected variables. The clusters identified suggest locations of immediate concern and for long term planning.
Keywords: QoL, AHP, MCDM, Spatial autocorrelation, Moran’s I
