Does Where We Live Influence Life Satisfaction? Exploring Different Territorial Contexts in Murcia

Urban environments play a fundamental role in shaping people’s everyday experiences and life satisfaction. However, understanding the relationship between urban and peri-urban environments and subjective wellbeing requires considering how residents perceive their surroundings and how these perceptions interact with social conditions. This study examines the relationships between perceived urban quality, social trust and security, and life satisfaction among residents of the municipality of Murcia, Spain, focusing on differences between Murcia city and the peri-urban settlements known as pedanías. The study adopts an individual-level perspective to examine whether the relationships identified at the urban scale replicate within a single municipality and whether their magnitude varies by territorial context. We used structural equation modelling with a sample of 1000 citizens of Murcia to test the proposed relationships and compare the two contexts. The results show positive relationships between perceived urban quality, social trust and security, and life satisfaction, with social trust and security playing a mediating role. Although the observed relationships are consistent across both contexts, their intensity varies by territory; the main difference is the stronger relationship between perceived urban quality and social trust and security in the outlying settlements. These findings highlight the importance of considering territorial heterogeneity when analysing urban wellbeing and designing context-sensitive policies.