From Resource Access to Capability Conversion: Education, Employment, and Access to Smart-City Resources in Relation to Quality of Life Among B40 Households in Greater Klang Valley, Malaysia

This study examined the associations among Education Affordability (EA), Job Opportunity (JO), Access to Smart-City Resources (ASR), and Quality of Life (QoL) among respondents from B40 households in Malaysia’s Greater Klang Valley. A cross-sectional, face-to-face survey was conducted in December 2024 using convenience sampling. Of 400 completed questionnaires, nine respondents did not meet the eligibility criteria, yielding a final analytic sample of 391. Confirmatory factor analysis assessed the four-factor measurement model, and PROCESS Model 59 estimated direct, indirect, and conditional associations using HC3 heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors and 5000 bootstrap samples. EA was positively associated with JO and QoL, while JO and ASR were positively associated with QoL. ASR was not significantly associated with JO, and the EA × ASR interaction in the JO equation was not statistically significant. The indirect association between EA and QoL through JO was supported at low, mean, and high ASR levels, while pairwise contrasts were not statistically significant. In the QoL equation, the EA × ASR interaction was statistically significant, whereas the JO × ASR interaction was not. Income vulnerability differentiated the separate EA–QoL, JO–QoL, and ASR–QoL associations, while neither three-way interaction was statistically significant. Overall, the findings identify Education Affordability, employment opportunity, and resident-facing smart-city resources as distinct but interconnected correlates of Quality of Life among B40 households.