Social_Policy_in_Urban_Environment

“An individual’s social well being is a product of the environment they live in”, many debate has been put on this statement, to see whether nature or nurture affect human well being. In this paper one will explore the meaning of “well being”, what and which can be affect on one well being, and one will expand the view through research statistics to compare the regional environment within NSW of Australia to see the differences well-being experiences in differences environment. As Downer, Rosemarie Theresa (2001) described in their work “Homelessness and its consequences : the impact on children’s psychological well-being” that human well-being has many descriptions. The term ‘well-being’ described ‘a good life’ in both physically (jobs, family, economically etc) and psychological (health, feeling of accomplishment etc), a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Well-being describes our happiness, confidence, physical condition and general outlook on life. The Australian Unity identifies seven life domains important to well-being: “material living standards; health; achievements in life; personal relationships; feelings of safety; community connectedness; and future security.” (Australian Unity,2008), in “The Well Being Manifesto” (Hamilton, Eckersley & Denniss, 2008) explain “…the factors are interrelated.”... “Our personal or subjective wellbeing is shaped by...our personal circumstances and choices, the social conditions we live in, and the complex ways in which all these things interact.” …“by the environment in which we live: .. our personalities appear to be changing over time as a result of social changes…” (Hamilton, Eckersley & Denniss, 2008), therefore people all try to strive for the happiness of well-being. A clean and healthy environment is vital for everyone’s well-being. While the overall quality of our environment is improving, the quality of the environment can vary between different areas and communities. People who are socially and economically disadvantaged often live in the worst environments. For example, from Australian Bureau of Statistic-ABS (2007) New South Wales Regional 2007 (CAT 1368.1) has shown on those living in the most deprived parts of Australia, Western Sydney and Outer Sydney area experience had the highest at 8.4% unemployment with the worst environment and adequate housing. While the Northern Sydney or so-call the Global Arc - Running from Chatwoods to Botany Bay regions had the lowest unemployment rate (2.3%). And within Crime and Justices Record the Western Sydney area (Bankstown, Black Town) have more criminal activity than Global Arc areas (ABS, 2007) clearly with common sense people living in high crime rates environment, it can be stressful and sometime lead traumatizing with unrest negative emotional from fear of safety for their households and loves ones. In Article: Internet access at home (ABS 2008 CAT 4102.0), the data provided indicates that, while there has been an increase in the percentage of people in rural and regional Australia who have access to computers at home, there remains a gaps between them and those who live in capital cities. Similarly, the percentage of country people with access to the Internet has more than doubled since 1998, but has yet to reach the level of use in capital cities. And since now is the century of information technology, the gap of internet accessible created gaps differences within knowledge and studies information for individual education well-being living in those environments. In results, ABS data showed that, 2006 education across Australia, Major Cities has 27% of people aged 25-64 years had a Bachelor degree or higher qualification compared with 15% in Inner Regional areas and even lower rates in the other remoteness categories. A Certificate III/IV was the highest level of qualification for about one in five people of this age in Inner Regional (22%), Outer Regional (21%) and Remote (20%) areas. (ABS, 2008, Cats 4102.0), and lack of education can lead to unemployment, which also according to O'Connor, T. (2006) with unemployment, some can lead to resorting to property crime to address their grievances, and other people develop a deep anger which can be manifested in violent ways which then affect the physical and psychological well being of individual in turn create unhealthy environment for the livings surround, due to unfulfillment of necessary needs to look after welfare of loves one. Unemployment also has stronger effects at the neighborhood rather than aggregate level, since unemployment does cause crime relation among ex-offenders which also can lead to risen of gangs influences among youths who living in those environment, in relation result to distress psychological for parenting . According to Elliot, A (2001) in the work “Repression of One Self” states that people unconsciously repress their truth selves in order to submit to regulation and restriction of modern culture (Elliot, A 2001), to which can be understand that people are affected by the environment they are living in, the socio-economic factors that the individual is born into, such as income and education, can dramatically reduce the individual’s life chances. Environment of poverty, unemployment, low income all influence the lives we lead, with emotional sense of unfulfillment to look after one’s family life, it can lead to depression health due to stress and worry. Other data show “Health and Housing” issues are unevenly distributed around Australia, the rate of high/low accessible socio-economic are dependence on economic status of each individual environment (ABS, 2000), those individuals who live in poverty environment are more likely to live in poor housing, this in itself can lead to health issues such as respiratory problems as a consequence of damp conditions and stress due to overcrowding. Poor housing is usually located in socially deprived areas where access to healthcare may be limited due to the high density of the population of and leisure may be restricted because either it is unaffordable or there are no local facilities, which all of these factors can lead to Social Health Inequalities (VicHealth, 2008). As cities develops with new social policies, effects can include a dramatic increase in costs, often pricing the local working class out of the market, including such functionaries as employees of the local municipalities. With the rise of Globalization and Urbanization, most of better and professional wage jobs are located within Global Arc, and low wage manufacture are shifting overseas where low and cheap labour are found (developing nation). Which caused the unskills labour blue collars worker have to move into less condition Outer City areas, leaving for the modern standardize professional white collars to move in the City, since better jobs can afford high standard living, this created social inequalities gaps (Sassen, 1998). For example, Hobsbawm's (1964) in “The age of the revolution: 1789–1848” chapter 11, stated "Urban development in our period [1789–1848] was a gigantic process of class segregation, which pushed the new labouring poor into great morasses of misery outside the centres of government and business and the newly specialised residential areas of the bourgeoisie” and according to Marx this situation created an inescapable social classes and lower working class have to live and obeying their life-cycle environment of inequality due to the lacking of economic status and ownership (Resch, 1992). Inclusion from the above findings, one could see that our health, our longevity and in sum our well being are affected or influences by environment surrounding which we grew up in, what quality of air we have breathed, and whether or not we have grown up in a rural or urban environment. In these we and each individual well-being are in part the product of our environment. References: Australian Bureau of Statistic, 2000, Australian Social Trends, 2000, Cats 4102.0, viewed on 5/09/2008 Australian Bureau of Statistic, 2007, New South Wales Regional Statistics, 2007, Cats 1368.1 viewed on 5/09/2008 Australian Bureau of Statistic, 2008, Australian Social Trends, 2008, Cats 4102.0 viewed 5/09/2008 Australian Unity, 2008, Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, Australian Unity Ltd, viewed 3/09/2008 Downer, Rosemarie Theresa, 2001, Homelessness and its consequences : the impact on children’s psychological well-being , Routledge, New York, Call No. 362.7086942 2 , UWS Database Elliot, A, 2001, Repression of One Self, Concepts of the Self, Cambridge, Political Press, pp46-77 Hamilton C, Eckersley R and Denniss R, 2008, The Wellbeing Manifesto, The Australia Institute, viewed 4/09/2008, Hobsbawn E.J. 1964, The age of revolution : 1789-1848 , New American Library, New York, viewed 6/09/2008, O'Connor, T. 2006, Inequality and Crime, MegaLinks in Criminal Justice, viewed on 7/09/2008, Resch, Robert Paul, 1992, Althusser and the Renewal of Marxist Social Theory. University of California Press, Berkeley, viewed 8/09/2008, < http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft3n39n8x3/> Sassen, Saskia, 1998, Globalization and its discontents, New Press, New York VicHealth, 2008, Research Summary; Key influences on health inequalities, viewed 10/09/2008