The Italian Municipality Equitable and Sustainable Well-being Index (MESWI)

This paper develops the Municipal Equitable and Sustainable Well-being Index (MESWI) for all Italian municipalities, extending the 12-domain BES framework to the local level through 49 indicators. Results reveal substantial territorial heterogeneity that regional and provincial statistics may conceal. The North-South divide remains the dominant geographical pattern and is considerably stronger than the difference between inner and non-inner areas. At the same time, municipalities within the same regions and territorial categories display markedly different well-being profiles. Remoteness is associated with weaker services and socio-economic opportunities but also with stronger environmental performance. The MESWI provides a fine-grained picture of multidimensional well-being and a potential information base for the programming, monitoring and evaluation of place-based policies.

Source: arXiv:2608.26426v1 - http://arxiv.org/abs/2608.26426v1 PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.26426v1 Original Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2608.26426v1