The study was done keeping in mind the huge amounts of funds that goes behind developing a neighbourhood and maintaining it. (Source: Getty/Thinkstock)

The lockdown has forced everyone indoors, allowing time from formerly hectic work schedules to pay attention to the locality they inhabit. A recent study conducted by a Michigan State University researcher investigated what makes people happy with their neighbourhood amid the lockdown.

Revisiting findings from 27 earlier studies that spanned 11 countries in North America, Europe and Asia including a sample of 400,000 adults living in those neighbourhoods, the responses determined if individual satisfaction depended on the locality itself.

Zachary Neal, associate professor of psychology at MSU and author of the study said that with millions of people staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a chance they might see their communities through a different lens.

“I was interested in what makes people satisfied with their neighbourhoods and whether there’s anything the residents or city planners could do to improve satisfaction. Previous research about what matters has been mixed, which made me wonder if this research is looking for something that doesn’t exist and that maybe neighbourhoods really don’t have much to do with how satisfied people say they are,” commented Neal.

The study was done keeping in mind the huge amounts of funds that goes behind developing a neighbourhood and maintaining it. The author explained in the study that having a good understanding of what makes people satisfied with their communities can play a vital role for developers, city planners and local officials.

“Perhaps neighbourhood satisfaction, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder,” Neal said. “We might expect residents to be more satisfied with their neighbourhood if its schools are good. But, in practice, they will be more satisfied if they merely think its schools are good, even if the schools aren’t actually that great.”