The Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSI): Evidence for a four basic factor model in a German sample

Where is the best place to live? The answer depends on how we ask the question and which scale we apply. Our study offers two contributions to the increasing comparability of research on citizen satisfaction: First, it combines together 18 different scales with items derived from qualitative research and then reduces those items to a set of 21 questions that we label Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSI). Second, we replicate four distinct dimensions of citizen satisfaction in two studies that employ different methodological approaches (explorative & confirmatory factor analysis, multidimensional scaling): Urbanity & diversity, nature & recreation, job opportunities, and cost-efficiency. These four dimensions establish a conceptual framework of relevant factors that may prove useful in comparative research on citizen satisfaction.

► Citizen satisfaction is receiving increasing attention in theory and practice. ► The question remains: What makes citizens happy and how to measure it? ► We combined 18 different scales and reduced these items to a set of 21 questions. ► Within these items we found four distinct dimensions of citizen satisfaction. ► With these four dimensions we could explain about 50% of the total variance.