Perspectives on Community Well-Being

This volume brings together multiple diverse perspectives from around the globe on quality of life and community well-being from a place-based perspective. It provides both conceptual and applied explorations across disciplines, ideas and perspectives to foster more interest and research in community well-being. Topics include surveying at the community level, child friendly communities, collective impact, grieving, and happiness. Those working in the areas of public policy, community development, community and social psychology, as well as planning and development will find this volume particularly useful for the array of perspectives, research, and analytical approaches presented.

Youngwha Kee is Professor in the Department of Lifelong Education at Soongsil University. She has served as the President of the Association of Adult and Continuing Education of Korea and Director of the Korea Institute of Local Development Education. Currently, she serves on the editorial board of Springer’s Community Quality-of-Life and Well-Being book series, the International Journal of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning (Hong Kong), the Lifelong Education Magazine (Taiwan), and Lifelong Education (China). Her research interests include educational gerontology, community and civic education, community well-being, community development, and governance.

Seung Jong Lee is a Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University. Previously, he served as the president of the Korean Association for Public Administration and as chief editor of several academic journals in related fields. He has frequently advised local and national governments through such positions as chairman of the Local Government Administration Joint Evaluation Committee, vice-chairman of the Presidential Committee on Local District Reorganization Plans, and member of the presidential transition committee. He has not only done extensive research on citizen participation and local autonomy but has also been a strong advocate and educator in the field. He is the author of Theories of Local Autonomy, and Democratic Politics and Citizen Participation.

Rhonda G. Phillips, Ph.D., FAICP is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners (FAICP). At Purdue University, Rhonda is inaugural Dean of the Honors College, and Professor, Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University. She is author or editor of several books, including The Handbook of Community Well-Being (2017, Springer), and The Handbook of Community Development, Perspectives from Across the Globe (2018, Routledge). She is editor of two book series, Community Quality of Life and Well-Being and editor of Community Development Research and Practice. She served as president of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies, and on the Board of Directors for the Community Indicator Consortium. Along with Seung Jong Lee, she is co-editor of the new Springer journal, The International Journal of Community Well-Being.