Quality of Life in Jalisco: Social, Economic, and Territorial Dimensions for Sustainable Well-Being

This edited volume examines quality of life in Jalisco through a multidimensional, interdisciplinary perspective integrating social, economic, institutional, territorial, and environmental dimensions. It seeks to elucidate the interdependencies shaping well-being and to explain how structural inequalities constrain the capabilities, opportunities, and living conditions of different population groups. Its thirteen chapters combine conceptual foundations with empirical evidence, advancing an understanding of development that extends beyond economic growth to encompass the social and institutional foundations of human flourishing.

The methodological framework encompasses statistical, comparative, longitudinal, and georeferenced analyses, together with applications of fuzzy sets. The contributions investigate subjective well-being, food security, decent employment, public security, time use, municipal services, economic diversification, gentrification, eating practices, innovation, tourism, public policy integration, and aging. This analytical diversity facilitates the identification of differentiated mechanisms through which inequalities emerge and persist across individual, municipal, and regional scales.

The findings indicate that well-being is conditioned by employment quality, the distribution of unpaid domestic and care work, institutional trust, and access to public services. They further demonstrate that economic and tourism expansion does not necessarily yield equitable improvements in living conditions. Territorial disparities, fragmented innovation ecosystems, and the exclusion of older adults expose institutional constraints that undermine the realization of rights and the sustainability of development.

The volume concludes that quality of life constitutes a relational configuration requiring the integrated examination of material conditions, subjective experiences, and institutional capacities. It provides theoretical, methodological, and empirical resources to inform comprehensive, territorially differentiated public policies oriented toward equity. It also advances a research agenda addressing the interdependencies of well-being, positioning human dignity, institutional coordination, and social justice as guiding principles for sustainable transformation in Jalisco. These contributions support a contextual understanding of public problems and underscore the importance of coordinated interventions responsive to the heterogeneous needs and capabilities of communities throughout the state.