Post-occupancy evaluation of residential satisfaction in Lagos,Nigeria: Feedback for residential improvement

This study is a post-occupancy evaluation of residential satisfaction in Oniru Estate, Lagos, Nigeria. It conceived residents’ satisfaction as a measure of people’s attitudes towards certain aspects of their residential environment. The very important role of certain physical quality or characteristics of the environment as a dominant predictor of satisfaction is emphasized. Apart from the measurement of residential satisfaction through post-occupancy evaluation, it also utilized respondents’ satisfaction scores as indices for evaluating the performance of residential development in the study area. Analysis was done using Chi-square statistics (p=0.05 with a level of significance of 0.000) to confirm the relationship between the quality of housing physical environment and level of residents’ satisfaction. The results show and confirm that the quality of certain physical characteristics in the housing environment is imperative thereby influencing the level of residents’ housing satisfaction. The need to consider relevant inputs emanating from the end-users or occupants of residential developments in the planning, design and development of satisfactory dwellings is highlighted.     

基于模糊综合评价的武汉市居民住宅满意度研究

以满意度理论为基础,构建了包括5个一级指标和14个二级指标的居民住宅满意度评价指标体系,选择合适的隶属函数,运用模糊综合评价对武汉市居民的住宅满意度进行测评,共选取了6个住宅小区作为调查样区,通过调查得到的数据分别对武汉市不同发展阶段住宅的居民进行住宅满意度比较分析,发现武汉住宅发展过程中的问题,以期促进城市住宅健康发展。     

A Tale of Two Cities: Physical Form and Neighborhood Satisfaction in Metropolitan Portland and Charlotte

Problem: Literature advocating compact development and mixed uses frequently claims that this form of development supports a higher quality of life, yet the empirical basis for this claim is weak.

Purpose: I assess the relationship between physical form and quality of life using neighborhood satisfaction as an empirical definition of quality of life.

Methods: I examine the effects of block and neighborhood housing density, land use mix, the mix of housing structure types, and street network connectivity on residents' ratings of neighborhood satisfaction. Using a multilevel dataset that combines individual household information with neighborhood contextual variables, I compare the Charlotte, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), which have very different development patterns and land use policies.

Results and conclusions: At the neighborhood level, I find density and mixed land uses to be associated with higher neighborhood satisfaction in Portland, but lower neighborhood satisfaction in Charlotte. At the block level, however, I find blocks that are exclusively single family detached housing to be associated with higher neighborhood satisfaction in both MSAs. These findings suggest that the influence of compact development and mixed uses on residents' quality of life depends upon the context, and may be sensitive to the spatial scales at which urban form is examined.

Takeaway for practice: Planners should understand that strategies promoting compact development and mixed uses will have different consequences in different contexts, and should pay careful attention to the appropriate spatial scale for implementing such policies. I conclude that compact growth and mixed uses improve quality of life by contributing to higher levels of neighborhood satisfaction, though they may not succeed in low density metropolitan areas. I conclude that in considering such development, planners should: rely on evidence to identify appropriate strategies; learn how to create conditions that foster urban amenities and discourage urban problems; pay attention to factors that complement the appeal of compact and mixed environments; and consider the possibility that the market will not tolerate mixing different housing types at a fine grain for the purpose of achieving higher density and diversity.

Research support: This research was supported by a dissertation research grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University.     

居住质量层面下的城市住宅发展之路

我国城市住宅在2003年末达到人均建筑面积23.7m2,这说明我国城市住宅发展已从追求居住数量的阶段进入追求居住质量的阶段。但与此同时,房地产开发商还在盲目追求住宅建造数量的提高,开发了大量不符合舒适居住要求的住宅。在这种情况下,对城市住宅要继续发展就要健全住宅市场,加强发展存量住宅市场,居民在选择居住区位上有更大的自由度,而且使各阶层特别是中低收入者能够拥有自己的舒适居所;同时要合理对待旧住宅(区)的改造利用,使所有居民在不搬迁的情况下都有机会提高居住的舒适度。     

VICTIMS OR VICTORS? THE EFFECTS OF FORCED RELOCATIONS ON HOUSING SATISFACTION IN DUTCH CITIES

Urban restructuring is changing the face of many Western European cities. Old, relatively cheap dwellings are being demolished and replaced by new, more expensive ones. The spatial effects of this process have been extensively studied, but little is known about the residents who are forced to relocate so that their dwellings can be demolished or updated. We therefore studied how satisfied forced movers are with their current housing situation, and what factors contribute to this. Using data from four Dutch cities, we found that most displaced residents were quite satisfied with their new dwellings and neighborhoods. However, those with low incomes and those from ethnic minority groups were less satisfied with their homes and neighborhoods. We can explain their lower level of neighborhood satisfaction by the fact that they move to less desirable neighborhoods—for example, neighborhoods with higher concentrations of ethnic minorities.     

Commercial rented housing: two sectors in the Netherlands

This contribution analyses the different developments and roles of two commercial rented sectors in the Netherlands: rented dwellings owned by individuals (private landlords) and rented dwellings owned by institutional investors. Characteristics of properties and households are specified in relation to tenure. An analysis follows of household characteristics of non-movers and movers to, from and within the commercial rented sector. Some policy issues are dealt with, which are relevant for the commercial rented sector. The commercial rented dwellings owned by persons are predominantly pre-war, small, cheap dwellings with a modest quality. They form part of the urban renewal problem. The owners are small-scale landlords, mostly not professional, who do not invest in ambitious renovation or new dwellings. For this sector the future is not very bright. For starters on the housing market and elderly people, this urban sector may have a limited function. The commercial rented dwellings owned by institutions are predominantly post-war (built after 1960), spacious, expensive dwellings with a high quality. The owners are pension funds and insurance companies which sell their properties often after 15 to 20 years when conditions are favourable. This sector has a strategic function at the upper side of the rental market where rents are decontrolled. Well-to-do households in a flexible urban labour market and elderly people are the most important target groups for this sector. This sector demonstrates how a free rental market functions and enriches the whole housing sector with relevant market signals. Hugo Priemus holds the chair in housing at Delft University of Technology, where he is also managing director of OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies.     

Housing pathways,aspirations and preferences of young adults within increasing urban density

Abstract

There is growing recognition within housing preference studies that younger housing consumers are more amenable to compact dwellings. Yet, there remains uncertainty around the drivers of these preferences. In Auckland, the development of a spatial plan emphasizing intensification has attracted opposition from residents, reinforcing a notion that compact housing is largely unappealing. Utilizing a housing pathways approach, we question this notion through examining the housing narratives of Generation Y, a cohort whose preferences are largely ignored in this debate and poorly understood within housing research. This paper highlights the influence of past experiences on attitudes to changing urban environments, providing several themes related to housing experiences that have the potential to influence preferences. We conclude that a process of ‘acclimatisation’ to density is likely as Generation Y become exposed to higher-density housing. However, to encourage positive experiences, compact dwellings must attend to the dynamic nature of contemporary housing pathways and provide quality housing, located where young people aspire to live.     

Perceptions and Acceptability of Multihabitation as an Urban Low Income Housing Strategy in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Urban low income households have often used multihabitation as a housing strategy to find affordable accommodation in the urban centres. Several factors have contributed to the gradual shift from multihabited compound houses to single family dwellings. These concerns have influenced the level of satisfaction of multihabitation and deterred real estate developers from engaging in such housing markets. Moreover, the changing socioeconomic conditions in urban centres resulting in the individualisation of family systems in the twenty-first century have undermined the benefit of multihabitation in urban low income housing provision. It is on this basis that a study is conducted to examine the perceptions and acceptability of multihabitation in the twenty-first-century urban low income housing provision in Ghana. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, primary data on households’ perceptions and acceptability of multihabitation in the twenty-first century urban low income housing provision was collected from households in five low income communities in Greater Accra Metropolitan Area. From the study, it emerged that although there were challenges associated with multihabitation living arrangement, residents perceived that there were still social and financial capital advantages as well as psychosocial benefits such as security and stability that emerged from the close relationships fostered under multihabitation. Hence, it is suggested that governments should adopt multihabitation in urban low income housing provision in the twenty-first century but with design modifications.     

广州金沙洲城市保障房社区研究——“日常生活实践”的视角

住房问题已经成为中国城市所面临的主要问题。进入新世纪,保障性住房建设大规模展开,保障房社区作为一种独特的新社会空间,受到广泛关注。基于米歇尔·德塞都的日常生活实践理论,本文对广州金沙洲新社区展开实证研究,探讨当前中国城市保障房社区居民的日常生活机制。研究主要采用典型案例、实地观察、半结构式访谈、深度访谈相结合的综合研究方法,从“日常生活实践”的角度探讨地方政府、市场和保障房社区居民的“结构化”互动,梳理和解析居民日常行为规律。研究表明,保障房作为地方政府为推进劳动力再生产而实施的一种空间战略,目的在于解决“集体消费”下的城市问题。在此背景下,保障房社区居民面临着社会、经济和文化上的“边缘化”及“空间锁定”问题。作为应对,社区居民采取各种生活“战术”予以应对：生活回市区、巧妙改造、隐性就业、维护社交网络、积极生活等。本文以此为保障房研究提供新视角,并为相关政策的制定和实施提供参考和借鉴。     

Gentrification or social renewal? Effects of public supported housing renewal in Denmark

This paper analyses social change, particularly the processes of social decay, in obsolete and deteriorated housing in the older housing stock in Denmark between 1986 and 1996. These changes are compared with the development which has occurred in similar kinds of housing that have been physically upgraded through a government program for housing renewal.

The study shows that this kind of housing attracts a quick turnover of residents and a tendency towards more unemployed or lower income occupants. It is also used by young people as their first home when moving away from their parents.

It is also shown that public supported housing renewal stops this type of housing pattern and increases the share of households that have high incomes. The changes, however, are not considerable and there are also many unemployed people among the newcomers. These changes depend to a large degree on the size and tenure of the renewed dwellings. In private renting, particularly co‐operatives and in larger dwellings the socio‐economic composition of residents undergo greater changes than in smaller dwellings in non‐profit or public housing. Extensive renewal often results in high rent compared with rent from the regulated housing market in Denmark. As a result the renewed dwellings have difficulties in competing with other kind of dwellings. For that reason residents of this type of housing primarily consist of welfare or pension recipients or others who receive high housing benefits. A minority of people with higher income also use these dwellings but mostly as temporary housing as after a few years they often move to owner‐occupied housing.     

‘Sicherheit’: examining residents’ perceptions of community safety in working-class residential areas undergoing regeneration in Limerick City,Ireland

This paper examines the perceptions of residents’ in two housing estates in Limerick, a peripheral Irish city, on how (un)safety effects their day-to-day lives and is an intrinsic element in the production and reproduction of their urban territories. In focusing on these areas which are currently ‘undergoing’ the largest urban regeneration project in the history of the Irish State, our analysis provides new insights into the intersections between regeneration processes and (un)sicherheit. Significantly, our findings demonstrate that regeneration processes, often billed as enhancing community safety, can in fact contribute to destabilising the triumvirate of safety, certainty and security.     

基于类型学方法的北京四合院的保护和再生

四合院是北京传统文化的象征之一,但是目前私搭乱建、多户混居、人口过密严重破坏了传统的四合院和城市风貌。本文提出四合院的保护应该关注原住民的传统文化,结合现实需求进行再生,并提出一种有利于四合院的保护和再生的新型混居四合院模式。此外,利用类型学方法对混居四合院的演变进行了分析研究,梳理了混居四合院的院落关系,提出了混居四合院保护和再生的思想,并选取一定四合院区域进行了模拟规划设计。     

On the Effects of Subsidized House and Apartment Living in Colombia

This article in applied sociology analyzes some relationships between type of housing and social behavior in the largest Colombian public housing project.' Using results from interviews with residents in apartments and houses, the article compares how families used their dwellings over a period of almost a decade and makes inferences about the impact of the type of dwelling on some behavioral patterns and on the satisfaction with the dwelling and the project.     

Do internal migrants suffer from housing extreme overcrowding in urban China?

Housing deprivation is central to economic deprivation. Identifying disadvantaged group(s) suffering from housing deprivation is a necessary step before the government can design effective housing assistance programmes. Using a nationwide micro-level data-set from the Chinese Family Panel Studies, we evidence the disadvantage that internal migrants face related to extreme overcrowding. We find that renters, whether natives or internal migrants, are more likely to suffer extreme overcrowding than homeowners, nationally and in most Chinese regions. However, both rural and urban migrants are less likely to be owner-occupiers than native residents. By comparing homeowners vs. renters, we further discover that migrant homeowners are less likely to suffer extreme overcrowding than the native residents of China’s cities. Conversely internal migrant renters face the highest odds to live in extremely overcrowded dwellings. Overall, findings suggest that the Chinese government needs pay special attention to improve internal migrant tenants’ living condition, particularly so for those renting.     

深圳公共租赁住房入户调研及居住需求对比

容积率与面积标准的双重制约下,深圳公共租赁住房套型设计较为单一。深圳作为移民城市,公共租赁住房申请人更为年轻,家庭结构多元。探析公共租赁住房在使用中普遍存在的问题及居民需求,可为其设计提供有益参考。通过调查问卷、入户调研及访谈的方式,对典型公共租赁住房套型进行调查,并对同一面积标准下不同家庭结构使用情况进行对比分析。深圳公共租赁住房居住者家庭结构多样,户均使用人数超过设计配租人数的现象普遍存在。当前套型设计存在不同功能空间面积配比及尺寸设计不合理现象,套型灵活性较差。深圳公共租赁住房配租面积应与实际居住人数、家庭结构进行适配。套型布局、面积分配及空间尺寸需要仔细推敲,同时增加灵活性,以应对多样化需求。     

提升住宅的声环境品质

优化居住质量将作为今后住宅建设的政策来实施，这一观点已逐渐被人们所接受。因此，提升居住环境的声品质亦已提到议事日程。本文首先就这方面所面临的形势，以及目前在围护结构中对空气声和撞击声的隔绝方面所存在问题作一阐述。同时还对若干热点的技术问题进行探讨。文中还提供了国外在住宅建设中控制声品质的最新经验，以资借鉴。     

NATIVITY,ETHNICITY, AND RESIDENTIAL RELOCATION: THE EXPERIENCE OF HMONG REFUGEES AND AFRICAN AMERICANS DISPLACED FROM PUBLIC HOUSING

ABSTRACT: This article focuses on how the experiences of refugee public housing residents differ from those of other public housing residents when they participate in housing dispersal programs. An analysis of the spatial resettlement patterns and survey responses of Hmong and African‐American public housing residents who were involuntarily relocated from public housing in Minneapolis, MN indicates the extent to which residents resettled in ethnically concentrated neighborhoods and their satisfaction with their new housing arrangements and neighborhoods. Research results suggest that Hmong did not settle in ethnically concentrated neighborhoods to the same extent as African Americans after relocation, and experienced lower levels of satisfaction in their new housing arrangements and neighborhoods. These findings indicate that the outcomes for residents involved in housing dispersal programs may depend in part on nativity status.     

Do residents of Affordable Housing Communities in China suffer from relative accessibility deprivation? A case study of Nanjing

Affordable housing has emerged as a key issue in urban development in a wide range of countries. Themes in research on affordable housing development across the world are reviewed. Affordable Housing Communities for low income households have been built on a large scale in developing countries such as China during the last two decades, mainly in urban fringe areas. Evidence on the impact of the location on access of residents to services is rare. Studying Nanjing, this paper compares spatial access to services between Affordable Housing Communities and Other Housing Communities by measuring distances and imputing walking time between residential land parcels and facilities. Affordable Housing Communities have significantly poorer access than Other Housing Communities, because of poor neighbourhood provision of low order services and poor access to high order services. A household survey of Affordable Housing Communities and Other Housing Communities records the daily lives, degrees of satisfaction and community attachments of residents. Residents in affordable housing have low degrees of satisfaction, weak community attachments and desire to move. The findings emphasize that service provision should be planned to keep pace with Affordable housing construction, so that these communities become better places to live.     

Simulating indoor concentrations of NO(2) and PM(2.5) in multifamily housing for use in health-based intervention modeling

Residents of low-income multifamily housing can have elevated exposures to multiple environmental pollutants known to influence asthma. Simulation models can characterize the health implications of changing indoor concentrations, but quantifying the influence of interventions on concentrations is challenging given complex airflow and source characteristics. In this study, we simulated concentrations in a prototype multifamily building using CONTAM, a multizone airflow and contaminant transport program. Contaminants modeled included PM(2.5) and NO(2) , and parameters included stove use, presence and operability of exhaust fans, smoking, unit level, and building leakiness. We developed regression models to explain variability in CONTAM outputs for individual sources, in a manner that could be utilized in simulation modeling of health outcomes. To evaluate our models, we generated a database of 1000 simulated households with characteristics consistent with Boston public housing developments and residents and compared the predicted levels of NO(2) and PM(2.5) and their correlates with the literature. Our analyses demonstrated that CONTAM outputs could be readily explained by available parameters (R(2) between 0.89 and 0.98 across models), but that one-compartment box models would mischaracterize concentrations and source contributions. Our study quantifies the key drivers for indoor concentrations in multifamily housing and helps to identify opportunities for interventions. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Many low-income urban asthmatics live in multifamily housing that may be amenable to ventilation-related interventions such as weatherization or air sealing, wall and ceiling hole repairs, and exhaust fan installation or repair, but such interventions must be designed carefully given their cost and their offsetting effects on energy savings as well as indoor and outdoor pollutants. We developed models to take into account the complex behavior of airflow patterns in multifamily buildings, which can be used to identify and evaluate environmental and non-environmental interventions targeting indoor air pollutants which can trigger asthma exacerbations.