Subiektywna i obiektywna jakość życia w procesie zarządzania jednostkami samorządu terytorialnego
Authors: Błoński Krzysztof , Burlita Augustyna , Witek Jolanta 
Published: June 2024

The introduction of market principles to public administration and the indication of the quality of life as the overriding objective and priority, inter alia, in long-term development strategies of Poland, the European Union or the United Nations, also translated into changes in the functioning of local government units (lgu). Among other things, they began to focus more on the needs and expectations of residents as recipients of public services and on the best possible performance of tasks imposed on them by law, the main result of which should be a high quality of life of the local government community, thanks to the sustainable development of a given territorial unit.
A region, city, county or municipality, performing the functions ascribed to them, are above all a place to live for people, offering specific conditions/benefits in the place of residence. The inhabitants are the main clients of local government units, and at the same time an important resource of a given area, taking into account its human and social capital, which are also important factors determining the level of socio-economic development, innovation and competitiveness of a given territorial unit. Therefore, an increasing number of local government units are interested in studying the quality of life of the inhabitants, especially in local systems. They allow us to better understand the needs of the inhabitants, get to know their opinions, identify the gaps between the subjective and objective quality of life and assess the economic, social and environmental effects of activities carried out in the process of local government unit management. Therefore, they provide a lot of information important for inter alia formulation of development goals and strategies and assessment of their implementation.
This monograph, which addresses the issue of the role and study of the subjective and objective quality of life of residents on the example of selected counties, in the context of the management of local government units, is in line with the mainstream of the presented deliberations. In the theoretical part of the study the most important issues relating to the specificity of local government unit management were characterized, the role of the inhabitants life quality as one of the main objectives, and at the same time measures of the effectiveness of the lgu management process, and the need for an integrated approach
to the quality of life, including both subjective and objective quality of life was emphasized. The concepts and examples of measuring quality of life were also presented. The empirical part presents the results of the author&rsquo;s secondary and primary research on the measurement of subjective and objective quality of life in the local system, in relation to the lgu management process. The research on subjective quality of life was conducted between 2016 and 2018 on a representative random sample of residents It used a direct survey questionnaire and a five-point scale to measure satisfaction with various aspects of quality of life. On the basis of respondents&rsquo; subjective assessments, the Quality of Life Index (QLI &ndash; Quality of Life Index) of the inhabitants of the individual counties was determined, based on the CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) methodology and being an aggregate measure consisting of three so-called sub-indexes relating to the level of satisfaction of the inhabitants with: living conditions in the county, personal life and professional life. On the other hand, the objective assessment of the quality of life was made on the basis of indicators estimated on the basis of found data for the years 2013&ndash;2016 for the areas of quality of life on which the local government has a direct or indirect influence, i.e.: health, communication, social and public safety, leisure, environment, education and work. Next, the results of both completed surveys, i.e. on subjective and objective quality of life, were compared by putting together the indicators characterising the individual areas of quality of life in the studied counties.
This made it possible to determine the areas of quality of life that were the most important to the inhabitants of the counties under analysis, their satisfaction with various aspects of their personal lives, their professional lives, the living conditions in a given place and their lives in general, as well as to assess the objective living conditions and their differentiation both in individual counties and according to the characteristics of the respondents. It was possible to notice differences in subjective and objective measures of quality of life in some of the areas analysed. Also, the respondents were not always most satisfied with those aspects of life that were most important to them. This indicates, firstly, that the assessments of the inhabitants of a given county in relation to the living conditions in a given place were not always consistent with the assessments resulting from objective measures. Secondly &ndash; one can speak of the existence of a gap between what the inhabitants of particular counties expect and desire, and what in their subjective opinion they receive and experience.
The conducted research also made it possible to identify the problems that need attention in the analysis of the subjective and objective quality of life in local systems. Among other things, they are related to the need to think about and develop an appropriate set of indicators constituting a basis for the evaluation of the subjective and objective quality of life in local systems, especially taking into account the availability of certain statistical data in local systems. It is also important to identify areas requiring additional &ndash; more detailed &ndash; research to better explain the analysed phenomena or reasons for discrepancies between subjective and objective assessments of specific areas.