The Hanoi People's Committee approved criteria and a survey method to measure the capital's resident happiness index for 2026 to 2030.
The criteria will assess development from residents' perspective, including access to services, perceptions of safety and trust, and quality of life.
The assessment shifts attention from what the city has achieved to how residents view their lives and whether they feel happy. Officials will combine survey results with statistics and objective indicators to develop, monitor and assess policy.
50 criteria in five groups
The set contains 50 criteria, with 10 in each group: economic life, employment and development opportunities; family, community and social relationships; social services, protection and welfare; culture, the environment, urban space and quality of life; and urban governance, safety, order and social trust.
The questions concern daily experience. Participants will assess income, job stability, access to medical care, environmental quality, travel and public spaces. They will also assess whether authorities listen to residents, respond to requests and handle them.
How the survey will work
The city will conduct face-to-face surveys in the fourth quarter of each year across 126 communes and wards. Participants will be citizens aged 18 or older with legal capacity who live in Hanoi. Temporary residents, renters and migrant workers who have lived there for at least six months may also take part if they meet the annual plan's conditions.
In 2026, Hanoi plans to collect 8,860 completed questionnaires. The agency will distribute the sample by population, select villages and residential groups, then randomly select households or addresses and one adult in each household. Participants will answer from their own experience. The head of a household may not answer for another person, and interviewers must not suggest answers.
Hanoi plans to announce the results every year on March 20, the International Day of Happiness. The results will support measures to improve residents' quality of life and happiness.
Happiness index criteria
Group 1. Economic life, employment and development opportunities
1. Income's ability to meet essential needs.
2. Financial reserves and resilience.
3. Stability of employment, livelihood and income source.
4. Quality and conditions of work or livelihood.
5. Work life balance.
6. Opportunities to find better work, develop a career and increase income.
7. Opportunities for business, entrepreneurship and innovation.
8. Trust in the prospect of improving living standards in the future.
9. Autonomy and choice in important life decisions.
10. Housing affordability and stability.
Group 2. Family, community and social relationships
11. Harmony, love and respect in the family.
12. Care and support between generations in the family.
13. Having someone trustworthy to ask for help in difficult circumstances.
14. Quality of friendships and regular social relationships.
15. Cohesion and mutual support in the residential community.
16. Trust between people.
17. A sense of belonging and acceptance in the community.
18. The ability to take part in discussing and deciding common community matters.
19. Participation in self-management, mutual aid, volunteering and community initiatives.
20. The sense that residents' voices are respected and have real influence.
Group 3. Social services, protection and welfare
21. Access to medical care when needed.
22. Quality of medical services.
23. Access to preventive care, screening and primary healthcare.
24. Access to quality, safe and equal education.
25. Opportunities for lifelong learning, retraining and improving digital skills.
26. Access to care services for people who need care.
27. Access to social protection, insurance and assistance in difficulty.
28. Access to, stability and affordability of essential services.
29. Access to channels for complaints, proposals and feedback on services, policy and residents' concerns.
30. The extent to which authorities and service providers listen, respond and handle residents' opinions.
Group 4. Culture, environment and quality of life
31. Quality and suitability of housing.
32. Access to parks, greenery, water areas and public spaces.
33. Air quality and comfort of the place of residence.
34. Environmental sanitation, waste and wastewater, drainage and flooding.
35. Quality of daily travel.
36. Access to, use of and satisfaction with cultural institutions, including cultural houses, libraries, museums, cultural and sports centres and community spaces.
37. Preservation and promotion of tangible and intangible heritage, craft villages and the identity of Thang Long and Hanoi.
38. Self-assessed physical health.
39. Mental health and positive emotional state.
40. The ability to comment on plans, projects and policies that directly affect the place of residence and quality of life.
Group 5. Governance, safety and social trust
41. Feeling safe about people, property and order where one lives.
42. Road safety, fire safety and the ability to respond to emergencies.
43. Digital safety and personal data protection.
44. Confidence in food safety.
45. Fairness, equality and consistency in law enforcement.
46. Openness, transparency and accountability of authorities.
47. Integrity and effectiveness in preventing and combating corruption, misconduct and waste.
48. Quality and convenience of public administrative services.
49. Trust in authorities and public institutions.
50. The ability to participate in monitoring authorities, public services and public investment.
Sources: Dân Trí
