摘要：Many factors affecting well-being operate at community level, not at central level. For example, levels of employment, access to education, and quality of environment vary by community. Differences between communities within a country are as important as differences between countries (OECD, 2013). Recently, there has been a consensus that macro-economic statistics on well-being at national level do not reflect the genuine well-being of people and their aspirations. Accordingly, it is said that there is need for evidence enabling us to explain people?s well-being in a variety of areas. From this point of view, in order for us to show the full picture of people?s well-being, we need to explain how people think of the community in which they live, how they respond when the community does not meet their needs, and whether access to services influences people?s choices of community to live in. In this regard, we can say that investigating community well-being can contribute toward discovering problems hidden behind well-being at national level. An overview of well-being at community level helps communities with low levels of well-being benchmark other communities with high levels of well-being within a country or in other countries. Furthermore, indicators of community well-being help policymakers and academics evaluate the extent to which community achievements and performances affect national prosperity and diverse social challenges. Understanding well-being in communities where people live and comprehending what factors determine levels of community well-being matters to community policymaking and design at both central and local level, because policymakers can thereby identify which elements are poor in communities with low levels of well-being and what should be done to strengthen them.
