The indirect city: transport, environment, and perceived livability as pathways to subjective well-being

Transport shapes daily life in dense cities by exposing residents to noise, pollution, and insecurity as they travel. Drawing on a 2023–2024 household survey of 2,448 adults around a high-demand corridor in Bogotá, we examine how the perceived livability of this travel-and-residential environment relates to subjective well-being (SWB). We model livability as a second-order construct reflected in five domains (transport, environment, neighborhood, local services, and security) and estimate an SEM-MIMIC linking it to SWB through perceived health and social capital. Livability shows no direct association with SWB and instead operates through better health and stronger social capital, with health the strongest predictor. Conditions of the travel environment, such as harassment, crime, noise, and pollution along the corridor, are among its strongest manifestations. Livability is most strongly reflected in security and environmental quality. Transport and environmental policies may raise SWB most when they reduce chronic stressors such as insecurity, noise, and pollution, and strengthen social resources, with implications for equity-oriented planning in Global South cities.