UN-Habitat and Marmara Municipalities Union Host Quality of Life Initiative Webinar
The session kicked off with detailed presentations from UN-Habitat experts Agata Krause and Yasmeen Alawamleh, who introduced the Quality of Life Initiative, which aims to help cities better understand and address the priorities, needs, and expectations of their residents. Participants learned how the initiative’s data-driven approach can be used to enhance quality of life across urban settings by integrating both global frameworks and local insights.
A key focus of the webinar was on the Quality of Life Domains covered by the initiative. These domains include Housing, Education, Health & Wellbeing, Basic Services & Mobility, Environment, Economy, Culture & Recreation, Social Cohesion, and Governance. These domains represent the key areas that cities must focus on to improve the quality of life for their residents.
Pilot cities Niš (Serbia) and Madinah (Saudi Arabia) shared their experiences in implementing the Quality of Life Index, providing valuable insights into how the tool can be adapted and applied in diverse urban environments. The session concluded with an interactive Q&A, allowing attendees to engage directly with the speakers and discuss future steps in applying the Index.
The webinar concluded with the closing speech by Görsev Argın Uz, MMU’s Director of Training and Projects & Local Government Academy: 'Perhaps the most important thing we are striving to achieve in cities is to increase the quality of life. This goal lies at the core of almost everything we do, or in some way, everything touches the quality of life and contributes to its development. However, we cannot improve what we cannot measure. The real issue is to genuinely understand people’s experiences and address the quality of life not only with numbers but also based on local experiences. As Marmara Municipalities Union, we believe that today’s meeting marks a strong starting point for measuring, understanding, taking action, and producing solutions to improve the quality of life in cities across Türkiye. We hope this initiative will pave the way for new collaborations and more effective steps toward enhancing the quality of life in our cities.
About the Quality of Life Initiative
Supported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Quality of Life Initiative uses innovative data collection methods, such as AI, mobile phone tracking, and social media surveys, to create a comprehensive and inclusive framework for improving urban life. The initiative aims to help cities identify local challenges and priorities, which are then integrated into the global index to drive targeted, evidence-based policy actions.
Marmara Municipalities Union supports municipalities in the Marmara region, helping them to incorporate the Quality of Life Index into their local urban development strategies. Through this partnership with UN-Habitat, MMU aims to strengthen data-driven decision-making processes in urban governance and foster sustainable, inclusive development across its member cities.
Contact
Those interested in participating in the Quality of Life Initiative and Index are kindly invited to contact MMU and UN-Habitat using the following details:
- Burcuhan Şener, Director of International Affairs, Marmara Municipalities Union – [email protected]
- Agata Krause, Senior Specialist, Partnerships and Institutional Engagement, Quality of Life Initiative, UN-Habitat – [email protected]
