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Street Crime and Vandalism Top UK Concerns
A new report from MORI shows that concerns about quality of life in the UK remain focused on local problems such as street crime, litter and vandalism, rather than on major national services.
MORI's first 'liveability' report in 2002 showed that basic problems such as litter, kids hanging around on street corners, dumped vehicles and vandalism were having a significant, damaging effect on quality of life. The latest report shows that some improvements have been made in the past three years, though there's still some way to go. Satisfaction with parks and open spaces, for example, is up from 63% to 71%, and people are noticing less litter and fewer abandoned spaces.
The report states that physical capital - the very nature of a place, how well designed and maintained it is - is as strongly related to overall satisfaction with an area as deprivation. Ben Page, Director of the MORI Social Research Institute, explains: 'What really matters to people is how safe, clean and green it is where they live - not big services like education and the NHS, where at a local level, many recognise progress.'
In his foreword for the report, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott says: 'We know we need to spread the benefits more widely and close the gap between deprived areas and the rest of the country.'
MORI is online at www.mori.com
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