The Korea Local Administration Review

This research wants to identify the factors associated with the degree of happiness at local level and test the evidence of spatial ripple effects of emotional well-being. It focuses on 31 administrative subunits in Gyeonggi Province and analyzes social big data regarding these areas from 2013 to 2017. To do so, we first established a keyword dictionary including thematic nouns and emotive adjectives. We then analyzed social big data employing a web crawling method. We also presented the happiness map of Gyeonggi Province for visualization. As a result, we found several patterns of happiness. The question of housing has been the major factor affecting happiness. Further, it appears that the degree of regional happiness has been increasingly influenced by personal conducts particularly rest and leisure rather than societal concerns. We also found that, as the happiness map of Gyeonggi Province indicates, negative emotions are more spatially contagious than positive emotions. Our findings suggest that social big data analysis as a novel approach can not only broaden our understanding of happiness and emotional well-being, but also contribute to the development of regional policy whose goal is to enhance the quality of life.

□ Keywords: Happiness Map, Social Big Data, Web Crawling, Ripple Effect, Gyeonggi Province