A Comparative Study of Satisfaction Evaluation between Residents of Mid-Rise and High-Rise Housings

Providing houses for people is considered as one of the key issues in urban construction and development. In Iran, along with the growing urbanization, increasing population and the lack of suitable land for construction, construction of residential complexes is one of the activities in order to meet the growing need for housing. Because of spatial considerations, housing development has been transformed from low to medium density and horizontal spread to high density and vertical stretch. The problems of high-rise housing have been concerned issues of many architects and environmental designers. The majority of the residents of high-rise complexes are not satisfied with their living environments in the metropolitan area. The relation between people and their residential environment is a significant topic in environmental psychology, possibly because home environments are one of the most salient environments in human experience. Housing satisfaction, which refers to residents’ overall evaluation of their housing, for a long time, has been a major research subject in sociology, planning, and related disciplines. Research suggests that it has a complex and multidimensional basis relating to both the actual and perceived environment. Many studies have deaed with housing satisfaction in the fields such as sociology, psychology, or urban planning. Some of those researches have focused on socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, or economic resources, while others have dealed with the physical characteristics of the housing that influence residential satisfaction. A broad literature review suggests that housings aesthetics such as wellmaintained homes and good air quality are important bases for residents’ environmental and general satisfaction. Safety may be particularly salient to residents. Indeed, housing safety is an important predictor of satisfaction for the residents perhaps because of their vulnerability to crime and traffic dangers as well as their greater awareness of these dangers. Access to green areas such as parks and natural areas is often found to be related to residents’ satisfaction. Residential satisfaction has been positively related to proximity to green areas. In terms of the physical environment, we draw on research that considers multiple features of the physical environment, including urban design, architectural features, safety from traffic and crime, air quality and pollution, cleanliness as well as green areas, such as parks and natural areas. The aim of this paper is to examine residential satisfaction of residential complexe in Tehran. Consistent with previous researches, the present project examines residents satisfaction from their housings, their residential complexes, and their relations with neighbors. In contrast to some previous researches which have used a single index of combined residential and neighborhood satisfaction, we measure residents’ satisfaction through different environmental domains. The present research method is a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches (mixed methods). In the first step, design criteria for residential complexes were studied and previous studies conducted in this area were reviewed. This research has analyzed some of these criteria in two selected samples between middle-rise and high-rise residential complexes. Comparing these criteria is done through a review of existing documents, field studies, questionnaires and interviews Questionnaire forms were equally distributed between residents of “ShahidMahallati” and “Sobhan” residential complexex. Random sampling is done among five residential blocks in each complex. Residents assessed perceived attributes of complexes by indicating their satisfaction from different categories. Participants were asked to evaluate their local area by responding to statements concerning various environmental attributes. The response format was a five point scale ranging from “strongly agree” (score +2) to “strongly disagree’’ (score -2). Finally, the obtained data was analyzed by various computer software programs. At last, the resident’s satisfaction was determined by comparing the scores of each of these criteria between two samples. The finding show that although in comparing two samples with only some of the criteria, Sobhan residential complex was ranked higher, but generally Shahid Mahallati residential complex was more successful in meeting resident’s satisfaction. Differences arise from the physical dimensions of housing.Among the physical characteristics, landscape is an important feature which is related to visible amenities and to esthetic preferences. Excessive building density, nonparticipation in social activities, low access to public services, and inconsistency with the surrounding parts are considered as weaknesses of high-rise residential complexes, while in the low density, the high level of social relationship between residents and consistency with the surrounding environment, are considered as the most important features of middle-rise residential complexes.