Archive for June 2012

The Dublin Happiness Map

June 18, 2012 Happy Cities, Survey Results No comments
The Happiness Map of Dublin

The Happiness Map of Dublin

 

 

This is the happiness map of Dublin, a raw data look at where people are reporting the highest levels of wellbeing. As before the red areas have higher wellbeing levels, the green areas have lower wellbeing levels. However the scale of this map is different to the all Ireland Happiness Map to make the variations more visible. This map is also based on answers to the transport and happiness surveys where respondents gave details on where they lived and their wellbeing.

Number of Responses by LEA

Number of Responses by LEA

To present the data, I’ve grouped the responses by Local Electoral Areas. You can see how the boundaries and area names work here. I think it provides a reasonable compromise between having enough data points in an area and illustrating the differences between different areas of the city. Dún Laoghaire seems to have a mysterious habit of disappearing, but it should all be that orange colour you can see in what remains.

As before it comes with the caveat that this is raw data, and that the number of responses is not as high as I would like. You can see an illustration of this by clicking on the thumbnail map, or by looking at the table below.

If you have a spare two minutes you can contribute to the map by taking the very short happiness survey here.

And in case you’re interested, this is a break down of the average happiness values and the number of responses received by Electoral Area:

Local Electoral Area

Average of Happiness

Number of Responses

Tallaght Central

15.04

47

Dun Laoghaire

15.00

54

Crumlin-Kimmage

14.61

82

South West Inner City

14.57

146

Mulhuddart

14.52

23

Pembroke-Rathmines

14.52

320

Cabra-Glasnevin

14.32

93

South East Inner City

14.23

217

Rathfarnham

14.22

65

Howth-Malahide

14.18

56

Glencullen-Sandyford

14.03

59

Clontarf

13.99

87

Stillorgan

13.96

46

Castleknock

13.94

51

Clondalkin

13.91

22

North Inner City

13.84

207

Blackrock

13.78

55

Dundrum

13.67

57

Artane-Whitehall

13.53

32

Ballyfermot-Drimnagh

13.42

24

Balbriggan

13.38

42

Ballybrack

13.35

40

Ballymun-Finglas

13.18

28

Lucan

12.85

41

Donaghmede

12.79

29

Swords

12.75

48

Tallaght South

12.63

19

 

Make Yourself Happy!

June 12, 2012 Happy Cities, Sustainable Transport No comments
The Happiness Map of Ireland

Happiness Map

The latest evidence suggests that to make yourself happy, you should give to other people. So make yourself happy, by giving two minutes of your time to the Very Short Happiness Survey.

(but please don’t let it make you so happy that you skew our results . . .)

The Happiness Map of Ireland

June 12, 2012 Happy Cities, Survey Results No comments
The Happiness Map of Ireland

The Happiness Map of Ireland

If you have a spare two minutes, you can contribute to the map by taking the very short happiness survey. 

So this is it, the happiness map of Ireland. The red counties have the highest wellbeing, the blue counties have the lowest wellbeing, and the orange – yellow – green are somewhere in between. It’s based on answers to the transport survey where respondents gave details on where they lived and of their wellbeing.

Number of Responses by County

Number of Responses by County

The whole map comes with the major caveat that for a lot of counties I have very few data points. The counties with the fewest data points are also the the counties coming up at the extremes, places like Offaly and South Tipperary only have two or three respondents.

So yes, as always I’d like more data. . .

That said, for the areas where I do have a reasonable amount of data, the urban areas seem to be slightly happier than the less urban areas. Dublin for instance is slightly happier than the surrounding commuter counties, and Cork City is rating as happier than Cork county. On the other hand, Galway City and County are pretty much identical.

Northside Vs Southside, not quite a myth.

June 8, 2012 Happy Cities, Maps, OpenPaths, Sustainable Transport One comment

Northside Vs Southside

How often do you cross the Liffey?

The first glance at the data I’m getting from open paths suggests that Dublin’s Northside/Southside is more than just a joke, it’s a reality. People live in one or the other and aside from an occasional brave foray, rarely venture across the Liffey.

Take green vs red in the map above. Green seems to live and work between D2 and D4. Outside that, there’s one trip to Clontarf and one to Castleknock. Red travels frequently between Blanchardstown and the city centre, but that’s it. There are two trips across the Liffey, but no more. Blue is similar to red, living in the Castleknock area, and travelling in and out of town along the southern edge of the Phoenix Park. Once in town however, Blue spends their time on the southside, and never seems to travel northside.

Pink has the classic profile of someone who doesn’t live in Dublin. They come as far as the M50, turn left and go to the airport. The rest of their time is spent locally, although I think there may be a quick trip to Liffey Valley there too. I need to double check.

As more people join this will obviously get more interesting, but even now, it’s fascinating to see stereotypes come to life, and in some cases being broken.

To contribute your data to this part of the project:

Please go to openpaths.cc set up an account and download the (free) app to your Smart Phone. Once it’s working, you will be invited to participate.