Modelling quality of life for sustainable development

The growing human population and the strain on natural resources are having an adverse effect on human lives. Findings from leading research organizations have highlighted that the accelerated depletion of natural capital is expected to be a big challenge for Sustainable Development (SD) of the world in the medium to long term future. SD is currently defined as, ‘Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. However the current trend of research indicates that this view of SD is limited. Major areas of focus for SD are economic, social and environmental. One area not reflected well in the existing models is quality of life. The rationale behind this is the complexity and difficulty in modelling.Scarcity of natural resources, potable water and the slow pace of development for alternate sources of energy coupled with the affects of climate change will drive nations around the world to conflicts. With human population estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050 there would be an adverse impact on the quality of life (QOL) of people.The Well-Being Index (WI), Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI), Global National Happiness (GNH) and Quality of Living are used to capture QOL, albeit with limited success. There is a need to define QOL in an easy to understand way and develop a user-friendly and practical model to provide inputs to models on SD. This paper analysis existing measures of QOL and outlines the need for a framework for a conceptual model capable of making informed decisions in the area of SD.