Quality of life isn’t a price tag. It’s simply the balance between where you live and how you live.

It’s something your city should provide by default. And it reflects how well your city works.

In a functional city, quality of life is the outcome of planning, not personal wealth.

At minimum, a city should offer:
👉 Affordable, reliable transport that reduces cost, time, and stress.
👉 Resilient infrastructure that grows with how people actually live.
👉 Inclusive urban growth that benefits everyone, not just a few.
👉 Participatory governance where residents help shape decisions.
👉 Safe, affordable housing, even within informal settlements.
👉 Accessible public spaces for health, rest, and social life.

If your city lacks at least four of these, no amount of income will fix it.
You’ll still sit in traffic, self-provide power and water, and pay privately (& heavily) for public failures.

Quality of life isn’t a personal upgrade. It’s a city planning outcome.

So the issue here isn’t what quality of life should cost. It’s why residents should have to pay for what cities should have planned in the first place.