Evaluating common spaces in residential communities: an examination of the relationship between perceived environmental quality of place and residents' satisfaction

Abstract

Gated communities as fruits of the high-density urbanism seek for security, prestige and new lifestyle and their common space is known as a significant component that could be one of the main reasons of residential satisfaction and life quality and creating sustainable urban living space in cities. Therefore, this paper presents a way of evaluation the success of a common space with dimensions measuring the quality of the relationship that residents have with their common space. Based on these dimensions, a questionnaire was administered to residents of different residential complexes in the city of Johor in Malaysia. Data was analyzed by SPSS and descriptive analysis to show which items are most important in the context of Malaysia to estimate the level of success in a common space. In addition, the research found which environmental quality aspects have more or fewer effects on residents' satisfaction.