Quality of Life Project

This page describes the New Zealand Quality of Life Project and Porirua's participation, including the results of the 2012 Quality of Life survey.

Background to the Quality of Life Project

The Quality of Life Survey began in 1999 and is a multi-agency research project exploring quality of life issues in six urban centres, including Porirua. The Project has two parts:

  • The Quality of Life Survey of residents in participating cities every 2 years; and
  • The Quality of Life Report every 5 years, following the Census.

Quality of Life Survey of Residents

The Quality of Life Survey measures residents’ perceptions (views, feelings) of their quality of life, through a series of questions by telephone, with a random sample of those living in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hutt and Porirua. 

The survey covers the following topics:

  • Quality of Life
  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Crime and Safety
  • Community, Culture and Social Networks
  • Council Processes
  • Built and Natural Environment
  • Public Transport
  • Lifestyle

Latest Survey (2012)

The 2012 Quality of Life Survey results for Porirua and the 6 Cities are now available - see the topline summary of results below or visit the Qualty of Life Project website for full survey reports (links below).

Quality of Life Report

The national Quality of Life Report is prepared every 5 years, in the year following the Census and is a detailed assessment of life in the participating New Zealand cities.

The Quality of Life report uses Census data (Statistics New Zealand), Quality of Life Survey data and information from many other large datasets.  The Quality of Life Report provides data on people; knowledge and skills; health; safety; housing; social connectedness; civil and political rights; economic standard of living; economic development; the natural environment; and the built environment.

National and local data collection and analysis is really helpful for local government and national monitoring, advocacy and policy and programme development.  Quality of Life Reports have been published in 2001, 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2012.

Links to reports and more information

External website:

  • Quality of Life Project website for more information on the biennial surveys and the five yearly Quality of Life reports, including the most recent, the 2012 Quality of Life Surveys for Porirua and the other cities.  Please note that there are some big files included on this site!
  • 2012 Porirua Quality of Life Survey Summary  (11 page pdf).  This topline summary looks at Porirua results for 2012 on a range of topics expressed as a percentage (%), and compared with the combined cities average (12 cities for the surveys 2004, 2006 and 2008, 8 cities in 2010 and 6 cities in 2012).  Data is provided from earlier surveys to illustrate trends.  For more detail, see each of the official reports on the Quality of Life Project website.