Regional patterns of well-being: an assessment of subjective factors and local opportunities

This study seeks to distinguish the determinants of self-reported well-being in the regions of Romania, via data from an original survey, conducted among over 1000 adult respondents. The foremost goal is to underscore the interferences between life circumstances, the opportunities offered by the places where people live, and their well-being. Linking subjective criteria to objective capabilities leads to dashboards with items that stand out when discussing well-being, both at the individual and community levels. Methodologically, to stress regional differences along these lines, ordinal logistic regression and random forest algorithm are primarily considered. The key conclusion is that the plethora of local opportunities (green spaces, recreational environments, cultural amenities, institutional conditions, education, health, safety, and financial prosperity) is relevant, but nevertheless, subjective predictors (social interaction, spending time in nature or with family and friends) deeply portray well-being. Regions with vulnerable opportunity packages experience a spatial penalty consistent with the narrative of places left behind, while those with further assets display higher well-being (West, Bucharest-Ilfov, and North-West). Well-being policies ought to be differentiated, territorially and contextually, with government interventions targeting a better life (i.e. addressing the grievances expressed in the South-West region regarding access to healthcare, the labour market, and housing).