Community wellbeing (community functioning, vibrant communities)

What is this domain – and what does it tell us about wellbeing?

Community wellbeing, simply put, is achieved when a community is functioning well and able to support a high quality of life for the people who live in it, both now and into the future. It is not simply the sum of the wellbeing of the people living in a community (which is sometimes referred to as collective wellbeing). Instead, community wellbeing is achieved when the community provides good opportunities for social connection, recreation, livelihoods, and care, has a healthy environment, and good access to a wide range of services and infrastructure that support a good quality of life for its residents. Many of the domains and indicators described in the Hub measure aspects of community wellbeing.

Connections to other domains

Community wellbeing is an outcome of many of the factors measured in other wellbeing domains. In particularly, a community will only have high wellbeing if it has high Amenity and liveability, Belonging and social cohesion, Institutions and governance, Environmental health, Standard of living, Resilience and adaptation to challenges, and a Vibrant economy. 

Indicator options

The following indicators measure overall outcomes of having good community wellbeing. So do many of the indicators examined in other domains, and these should be drawn on as well as the ‘global’ indicator below, to understand overall community wellbeing.

• Community wellbeing index
• Community spirit