Spatial Sorting of Well‐being in Sweden: The Role of Attitudes Towards the Neighbourhood and Neighbourhood Type

Abstract Recently, spatial sorting of well‐being at the neighbourhood level has received attention. As most studies merely focus on the distribution itself or one neighbourhood aspect in relation to well‐being, this study examined well‐being by neighbourhood type, and how residents’ attitudes to the neighbourhood might influence this relationship. The study uses a survey based on a sample of residents stratified among ten different neighbourhood types. We find that residents living in or near low‐income, high migration and high unemployment neighbourhoods experience lower well‐being. This association disappears if controls for attitudes to the neighbourhood are included. Residents in homogeneously Swedish areas experience lower well‐being that cannot be explained by neighbourhood attitudes. We concluded that there is a heterogeneous spatial sorting of well‐being. These findings illustrated the importance of the neighbourhood for individual well‐being and suggested that the spatial sorting of people is not only associated with economic prospects but also emotional life.