How might we define 'liveability'? Liveability is a term that is being used more often in suicide research and prevention, but it is often not clearly defined. Broadly, it refers to a range of features that can make a life feel or be more ‘liveable’. This includes physical and mental health. However, crucially liveability goes way beyond this, to include a consideration of how the social, political, environmental and cultural contexts that people live in affect liveability. What ‘liveability’ means will vary for different people and groups, and a key research question that Discovering Liveability has relates to this variability. We ask – how is liveability understood and made sense of by different individuals and communities? Our research will answer this question both by spending time with different communities, and by exploring the policy contexts that affect liveability. This article was published on 2026-01-30
