Study on living environment and quality of life of coastal community in Gorontalo City, Indonesia

Coastal communities in particular fishermen are dealing with uncertainties due to the open access characteristic of coastal regime. In addition, the decrease in some parameters of coastal ecosystem affects quality of life of coastal community. This behavioral study aims to examine the quality of life of coastal communities as shown in the happiness index, which is measured through the satisfaction of their life domains. The first-hand data from a purposive sampling survey was carried out within twelve coastal administrative villages in three sub-districts in Gorontalo city, Indonesia. The survey used structured questioner with Likert scale. Fisher's Exact Test used to see the extent of the different perception of the respondent's status as an employee and non-employee in providing answers whether they are happy or unhappy. Respondents were selected using purposive sampling design with household as the unit analysis. The result shows that the level of happiness of the coastal communities of the city of Gorontalo is at a moderate level, with Index of Happiness of 83.4 on a scale of 0-100. Total score of eleven elements of life satisfaction is 81.60, shows that the community of Gorontalo living in the coastal administrative villages is satisfied with their behavioral life. The community enjoys family harmony as reflected in the highest of 82.37 and less satisfy with education aspect as the lowest score of 60.38. The moderate level of coastal community happiness of Gorontalo City implies the need for efforts to improve sustainability approach in regional development, especially in education and living environment aspect. Strategic policies should also be taken with the Gorontalo Provincial Government to reduce the impact of upstream development to the coastal area of Gorontalo City.