Residential Satisfaction - Essay Example

Topic: Residential Satisfaction Pages: 6 Number of words: Around 1620 (Exclusive of References). Referencing style: Harvard English: UK References: Total: 7 Books: 5 Journals: 1 Web Sources: 1 Topics covered: Intro General Discussion Conclusion Residential Satisfaction 1 Intro In the present day modern life, residence or a dwelling unit gains utmost importance in the lives of people. Computer has become a part of the work culture everywhere and communication technology has made new inroads making the facility of communication easier to the common man through mobile phones. In tune with these changes, the preferences of people in the selection of their dwelling units have also changed. High rise buildings and multifamily complexes in shape of apartments are coming up in almost all countries and developing countries are no exception to this culture. With this backdrop, people seek to stay in houses which give them complete residential satisfaction by way of good neighbourly relations, peaceful surroundings, serene environment, suitable facilities and good administration of residential complexes. Depending on individual tastes and preferences, aspirations and satisfaction levels change but most house owners or tenants prefer to seek better houses in order to get full residential satisfaction in all respects whenever their aspirations are not met with in their existing homes. Satisfaction / Residential Satisfaction As everyone commonly understands, satisfaction is a state of happiness derived through fulfilment of an objective. It can be more clearly described as a sort of contentment one gains by fulfilling a desire, need or hope. Residential satisfaction is therefore a certain state of happiness gained by a person in all respects in relation to his / her residence, own or rented. Going by common knowledge, people would generally tend to continue to reside in houses where full satisfaction is sustained in relation to their neighbours, environment, facilities available and Residential Satisfaction 2 maintenance of the premises. When one runs out of residential satisfaction with regard to any of these issues, he or she may opt to move out of it in search of better residential satisfaction. In such a case, either the house is sold off or vacated by the occupant. Golledge and Stimson (1996: 473) quite appropriately describe ‘residential satisfaction’ as the meeting point of the residential achievement with the residential aspiration. Aspirations are not similar and most of the times, they differ depending on the different tastes of people. This is especially so with regard to a dwelling unit. Because of the different perceptions of different people on how to achieve residential satisfaction, all house owners would not display the same level of satisfaction from a single residential environment (Galster, 1987: 93). One therefore has to understand that a person would develop certain aspirations about his / her residence and when the aspirations are fulfilled vis-à-vis the house, the person is said to have achieved residential satisfaction. It is true that a person may face expected or unexpected difficulties and problems during his / her stay in a particular house with regard to certain aspects but in relation to some other aspects, the person may experience some kind of happiness. When the person strikes a mental balance between the levels of happiness and problems, residential satisfaction can be said to exist. On the contrary, when the levels of problems dominate the levels of happiness, he or she may suffer from the loss of residential satisfaction and the need for searching a better house may arise. Residential Satisfaction 3 It is quite natural for everyone to search for a decent residence for having a decent living for attaining a full residential satisfaction. But researchers found it difficult to provide a proper definition for the words ‘decent residence’. Confirming the findings of the earlier researchers, Pacione (2005:412) explains that independent houses, with modern architectural values and respectable neighbourhoods would be more attractive than apartments. This can be interpreted to mean that people would find more satisfaction in independent houses rather than in apartment complexes. The overall satisfaction in relation to a residence, an apartment or an independent house, arises from different angles such as satisfaction with residence, satisfaction with surroundings, and satisfaction with the behaviour of the neighbours and of course satisfaction with the availability of various public services at the dwelling place (Galster, 1987: 98). In fact, a wide variety of variables determines the level of residential satisfaction. Researchers found that important aspects such as interior and exterior spaces, mechanical and structural deficiencies of a dwelling place, levels of cohesion and interaction with neighbours , maintenance of the dwelling units, homogeneity of neighbours, raising or decreasing property values are effectively linked to residential satisfaction (Galster, 1987: 98). While several factors determine the residential satisfaction of house owners or tenants, levels of residential satisfaction should not necessarily be the same for all. Weidemann and Anderson (1985: 165) conclude through their research that levels of satisfaction are not uniformly high for the low and moderate income residents of multifamily housing and for elderly residents of high Residential Satisfaction 4 rise housing complexes. They further explain that other subtle factors of residential environment are also at work in deciding the levels of residential satisfaction. While there are many parameters for deciding the levels of residential satisfaction, the factor of the administrative controls and maintenance could play a major role in either increasing or totally destroying the satisfaction of the dwellers. The history of the Pruitt-Igoe stands as an example of how residential satisfaction goes down the drain due to lack of proper maintenance. The Pruitt-Igoe, a 33 building high rise housing complex built in 1951 with a budget of $ 57 million at St.Louis, Missouri and hailed as one of the architectural wonders of the century, was gradually abandoned by its residents in a period of 10 years as it lacked in proper maintenance and became a dwelling place for all types of anti social elements (Chi and Griffin, 1980: 453-465). Ultimately, the huge complex had to be destroyed by the Government. Apart from administrative control and maintenance of the dwelling premises, several individual factors also play a major role in attaining and sustaining or losing the residential satisfaction. House owners may find the surroundings troublesome because of the presence of some disturbing elements in the nearby houses, because neighbours are frequently fighting over petty issues, because the colour and creed of some neighbours are not to their liking and because they find the facilities such as water, drainage and power supply at the place are not to their satisfaction. In any of these circumstances, house owners are bound to lose their residential Residential Satisfaction 5 satisfaction and sell away or vacate their houses to seek better housing facilities and neighbourhoods. Huckfeldt (1986: 86-87) points out at the surveys and research conducted by social workers and scientists and explains that many residents of the new suburban housing development projects in the US cities of Buffalo and Milwaukee abandoned their old residences in the urban areas and left for the new suburban areas with a view to get better housing facilities and better neighbourhoods. These findings show us that affluent house owners generally prefer better surroundings and neighbourhoods and that people handicapped by financial resources would prefer staying at their old residences compromising with their low levels of residential satisfaction. Loss of residential satisfaction may crop in when the house owners find that their habits and behaviour are different from those of their neighbours, that they are unable to mingle freely with their neighbours and that they are unable to treat their neighbours as their own people because of differences in cultural values, colour, creed and related issues. Historical evidence shows that people with a particular cultural identity would not get residential satisfaction in the midst of neighbourhoods containing people of a different cultural identity. American whites moved out to more spacious, vibrant and peaceful locations when the African American blacks migrated to the northern cities and settled in white dominated neighbourhoods in several US cities during the great migration between 1910 and 1970 (Huckfeldt, 1986:86-87). That people would generally develop residential satisfaction in the neighbourhoods where people with similar cultural identities, habits and values stay is proved by the white flight. Residential Satisfaction 6 There are further indicators or determinants for weighing the residential satisfaction. Density factor is also one of those that either enhances or decreases one’s satisfaction in relation to his / her dwelling unit. Research into residential preferences at transit points and thickly populated areas at California revealed that most of the residents preferred to stay in single family units rather than in multifamily complexes and that thickly populated areas would not fetch them any residential satisfaction (Shaw, 1994). The findings of this research reveal that people generally prefer to stay at houses near transit points for easy journeys and mobility but they again prefer single detached portions even there for the sake of peacefulness. It is also common knowledge that people in the thickly populated and high density areas are robbed off their peacefulness and serenity. Conclusion House owners always try to find maximum residential satisfaction wherever they are but when they find some problem or the other at their house, they are bound to get dissatisfied. Of all the determinants that decide the residential satisfaction of house owners or tenants, proper maintenance of the residential complex and good neighbourly relations would go a long way in sustaining their satisfaction. People may also not like the thickly populated areas as they lead to congestion spoiling the peaceful atmosphere. House owners would also prefer to reside in independent single family portions rather than in multi storied multifamily complexes to avoid problems. It must however be recognised by one and all that whatever is the house or area or city, most of the house owners may find some problem or the other at their dwelling place reducing their satisfaction. But a decision in favour of quitting the house in favour of a better residential satisfaction would depend on the seriousness of the problem. Residential Satisfaction 7 Reference List: Books: Galster, G.C. (1987) Homeowners and neighbourhood reinvestment. Durham , NC : Duke University Press. Golledge, R.G and Stimson, R.J. (1996) Spatial behaviour: a geographic perspective. New York : Guilford Press Huckfeldt, R.R.(1986) . Politics in context: assimilation and conflict in urban neighbourhoods. New York : Algora Publishing Pacione, M (2005). Urban geography: a global perspective. London: Routledge Weidemann, S and Anderson, J.R (1985) ‘A Conceptual Framework for Residential Satisfaction’, in Altman, I and Werner, C. M. Home Environments . New York : Springer Journal Sources: Chi, P.S.K. and Griffin, M.D.(1980) ‘Social indicators for measuring residential satisfaction in marginal settlements in Costa Rica’, Social Indicators Research Journal, Vol. 8, No. 4, December, pp. 153-175. Web Sources: Shaw, J.G.( 1994) Transit , Density and Residential Satisfaction, [Online] , Available : http://www.uctc.net/papers/diss028.pdf [27 April 2009]. Read More