Public housing self-selection through user satisfaction in the City of Qom, Iran

Abstract

This research is focusing on the concept of self-selection, a decision-making process grounded in self-concept, which currently receives less attention in housing provision in Iran. This is an effort to explore new suggestions for improving the level of user satisfaction for future living environments that are designed based on current architectural ideas. Achievement of self-selection is indicated by satisfaction in decision-making process. Therefore, the aim of this research is to enhance general housing satisfaction in Qom, Iran by improving the level of residential satisfaction of public housings through the decision making process for future designs. The objectives of this research are to investigate the attributes of the residential environment, related to user self-selection of public housings in Qom, and to measure the residential satisfaction level of public housings through various aspects of self-selection. Sequential mixed methods were employed based on post-occupancy evaluation questionnaire, which clarify the level of user satisfaction. The survey questionnaire was administered to a sample (N=109) of Iranian residents who live in the public housing of Mehr Projects in the Pardisan area of Qom. The collected data were processed with IBM SPSS, ANOVA, and Smart-PLS for frequency, t-tests and model testing. The results indicate that the mean score for user residential satisfaction, self-selection and overall quality of future design are above neutral. The findings suggest that the respondents were satisfied with their current experience of living in the apartments. The quality of current state of the building has improved, and the quality of future design needs less improvement. The results can be useful in assisting architects to predict residential satisfaction and subsequently consider the desired level of self-selection in their design process. In conclusion, the significant determinants of user satisfaction by different attributes of self-selection have been highlighted, and the findings show the central position of self-selection in architectural design.