A Nexus or Not? A First Examination of Cost-of-Living Concern, Neighbourhood Perceptions, Active Travel, and Wellbeing in Cities

Abstract

This paper represents an important first step in the literature, to look at potential links between cost-of-living stress and the perceptions of local neighbourhoods, under the hypothesis that greater pressure about housing affordability, transportation costs, or indeed cost overall could lead to a degradation in how the neighbourhood within which a person lives is perceived. We do find confirmation that cost-of-living goes beyond technical measure of housing stress and indeed beyond just housing stress alone. Of particular relevance is that those who could be classified as having rising concern (consumables) have among the highest levels of relative stress. This is to be expected as there are many reports in the general media about spending on eating out and indeed cutting back on meals prepared at home, as being initial strategies to reduce spending. Such cuts to spending are also likely to spill over into discretionary trip making and travel activity patterns overall. We find that there is generally just as much concern about the rising cost of fuel, which is directly related to trip making, further compounding transport accessibility and equity. Overall, our first attempt to investigate the potential nexus of cost-of-living, neighbourhood perception, wellbeing, physical activity and active travel, produces enough evidence and insight to establish that there are potential links which are likely to play out in unknown ways during cost-of-living crises. We argue that our results are sufficient enough that research should extend them to transportation costs and trip making more generally under the current spike in general prices and urge other researchers to consider building on these insights.