Gundi Knies (p)

Felix Pot

Subjective wellbeing (SWB) has become a central concern in social science research, reflecting both individual experiences and broader societal inequalities. While much of the empirical literature has focused on individual and household determinants of SWB, an emerging body of research highlights the influence of social and environmental factors, such as neighbourhood deprivation, green spaces, and air quality. Notably, recent studies have examined how SWB varies between rural and urban areas, revealing a counterintuitive "urban happiness paradox": despite greater economic opportunities and services, urban populations seem to report lower happiness levels than their rural counterparts. This paradox raises fundamental questions about the socio-ecological factors shaping wellbeing across different living environments.
This systematic literature review synthesizes empirical research on rural-urban differences in SWB, with a particular focus on Europe. To be included in the systematic review each article had to meet all of the following inclusion criteria: Quantitative empirical analysis, focused on the general population (or specific subpopulations: age groups, males or females, countries or regions), published in English or German, full-texts available. Out of 7,940 initially identified papers, 443 studies passed the initial title and abstract screening process and after narrowing down the sample to studies since 2000 and Europe, 96 studies fulfilled the final eligibility criteria (i.e., they were published after 1999, focus on a global individual subjective wellbeing measure in a general population in rural (and urban) Europe). We address key questions: (1) How is SWB measured, and do findings differ based on measurement approach? (2) How are rural and urban areas defined, and does this influence results? (3) Is there a consistent rural wellbeing advantage, and how does it vary across different types of rural areas? (4) Which geospatial characteristics are most strongly associated with SWB in rural settings?
In addition to identifying a lack of findings on rural wellbeing in individual Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, our findings highlight sizeable heterogeneity in how rurality and SWB are operationalized across studies, with implications for understanding spatial wellbeing disparities.

Felix Pot (p), Sierdjan Koster

Martin Refisch

Peripheral rural regions in Europe face the decline of access to essential services and employment, exacerbated by urbanization and centralization trends. This trend is often linked to a sense of institutional neglect, reinforcing perceptions of being ‘left behind’. At the same time, larger distances to opportunities do not always lead to less satisfaction with access. This prompts the question of whether the relationship between accessibility and perceptions of institutional bias in rural areas is primarily driven by the actual challenges in accessing desired opportunities.

This study investigates the extent to which satisfaction with access to opportunities moderates the link between accessibility and perceptions of institutional bias in rural areas. Using a self-administered survey conducted in the Netherlands (2020, N=3,378), it examines how both spatial indicators of accessibility and perceived accessibility relate to feelings of neglect.

Findings indicate that perceptions of being left behind are more strongly correlated with the actual availability of opportunities than with subjective assessments of accessibility. While functional accessibility plays a role, most rural residents are satisfied with accessibility. Rather, symbolic and emotional responses to facility closures contribute to regional discontent. However, when access is perceived as insufficient, it does also become a driver of institutional distrust.

Martin Refisch (p), Larissa Deppisch, Jörg Hartmann

Louise Koeppen

Recent electoral results in Western democracies show a consistent pattern: right-wing populist parties perform best in peripheral, often rural regions. A prominent argument in public debate is that transformations as regional decline – manifested through deindustrialisation, demographic losses, and dismantling of facilities of general interest – undermines satisfaction with the government or even the political system, creating opportunities for right-wing populist parties to become outlets for rural discontent at the next election. Despite the pervasiveness of this narrative, empirical evidence for the presumed causal relationship remains limited.

Our study examines this relationship in Germany by investigating three questions: 1. What are the direct and indirect effects (via democratic satisfaction) of regional decline on AfD support? 2. Does regional decline increase AfD support to a greater extent among the more vulnerable segments of the population? 3. Which dimensions of regional decline have the strongest impact on AfD support?

We operationalize regional decline through population loss, economic deterioration, and infrastructure and public services degradation, combining longitudinal panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel with a novel dataset tracking changes in public services, economic indicators, and demographic patterns at municipal and regional levels over 15 years.

Our preliminary findings confirm higher AfD support in declining regions but reveal that both overall and indirect effects of regional decline are relatively modest compared to other factors, particularly anti-immigration attitudes. This study advances the literature on geographical patterns of populist support by providing causal evidence while highlighting the need to consider multiple explanatory factors.

Jonathan Hopkins (p), Gundi Knies, Luise Koeppen (p)

Daniel Meyer

This empirical research investigates the relationship between life satisfaction and residence in different types of rural areas taking advantage of the extensive potential for small-scale geographical data linkages afforded by a nationally representative household panel survey for the United Kingdom (Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study). Specifically, we explore whether individuals residing in various rural contexts report differing levels of life satisfaction, controlling for a wide range of individual, household and neighbourhood-level information. To achieve this, we employ a comprehensive set of geographic and socio-economic variables, including the detailed Office for National Statistics Rural-Urban Classification 2011 and Eurostat's new Degree of Urbanisation Level 2. In addition to these mainly population count-based measures of rurality we employ socio-demographic classifications of areas: deprivation scores and CACI's Acorn typology. By examining these factors, we aim to identify potential patterns and disparities in life satisfaction; highlight the environmental and place-based characteristics of rural areas which are most influential on life satisfaction; and inform the construction of a new European typology of rural areas (developed in the Horizon Europe project GRANULAR [https://www.ruralgranular.eu/]. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of how rural living, in its various forms, impacts overall life satisfaction, with implications for policy and rural development.

Daniel Meyer (p), Elisabeth Stürmer, Stefanie Vedder

Gundi Knies

In the wake of the coal-phase out, European mining districts have gained significance in political and academic debates. Coal mining regions serve as compelling case studies, as they combine the broader challenges of rural areas – such as demographic decline and limited access to services – with the specific dynamics of post-industrial transformation, including compensatory public investments and the restructuring of industries, firms, and labor markets. While extensive research has examined the economic effects of structural change, relatively little is known about its impact on the social and political satisfaction of local populations. This study focuses on Germany’s three lignite mining regions – the Lusatian, Central German, and Rhenish districts – to analyze how structural transformations have shaped subjective well-being and political discontent in these regions between 1990 and 2022. Methodologically, geocoded survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel are combined with regional indicators from official statistics to assess how changes in spatial contexts and objective living conditions influence subjective well-being and political discontent, including overall life satisfaction, concerns about various life domains, and support for populist parties. Results suggest that while differences in life satisfaction have decreased over the past decades, people in coal mining regions remain less satisfied with their lives than those in the rest of the country. In particular, residents of the two East German mining regions report greater dissatisfaction with their income, heightened concerns about social cohesion and economic development, and a stronger propensity to vote for populist parties. The (preliminary) spatial analysis indicates that subjective well-being declines in regions experiencing demographic and economic decline, while spatial proximity to power plants and mining fields appears to have no significant effect. The presented research contributes to a broader monitoring system of subjective and objective indicators being developed at the German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development. The system aims to monitor the socioecological transformation of Germany’s lignite mining regions and provide a hub of information and data for researchers, policymakers, and the broader public.