This article seeks to determine whether privacy has a moderating effect on the relationship between residential livability and life satisfaction among low-income groups in Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria. The study utilised a quantitative research design, whereby descriptive and inferential analyses were employed. This was achieved through a wellstructured questionnaire administered to low-cost housing residents in the state. The data were subjected to descriptive analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software and structural equation modelling (SEM) using Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS). The results indicated that about 73.4% of the residents experienced a low level of life satisfaction. The findings from the SEM showed that the moderating effect of privacy in the relationship between the dwelling unit and life satisfaction was good. Meanwhile, privacy was not a moderator in the relationship between social environment and life satisfaction. Finally, the article revealed that the residents' life satisfaction could be improved if dwelling unit features and privacy were considered in the low-cost housing design. Practically, the study serves as a blueprint for government policy in designing low-cost housing in the future.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the problems of public low-cost housing in Nigeria in relation to residents' well-being and suggest some guiding principles that can be used for successful public low-cost housing for low-income people in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach-This research was conducted through in-depth reviews of previous literatures and document related to public low-cost housing in Nigeria. National housing policy is among the document analyzed by the researcher. Findings-The major constraints to public low-cost housing in Nigeria is that, the housing units does not reflect the culture of the resident. Most of the residents are not satisfied with it. The housing units are characterized by indecent housing units, the needs and aspirations of the residents are neglected, high safety and security challenges, poor locational and difficult to access functional facilities. Research limitation / implications-The main limitation of this research is no field survey or interview to collect data from the residents of public low-cost housing has been conducted. Practical Implications-This research will assist housing policy makers and housing developers to understand the important of opinion or views of beneficiaries before and after construction of public low-cost housing. This will be achieve if certain attributes of housing are incorporated in the National Housing Policy as may be suggested by the beneficiaries. Significant to developing countries-Recent studies in Nigeria have shown that, the quality level of building and infrastructural elements depend on cultural background of the beneficiaries. Presently, scholars in Nigeria are shifting towards housing design that will reflect the desire and expectations of beneficiaries through incorporating of culture of the people in housing design. This issue is of great significant to developing countries with different cultural diversities, these differences in culture need to be considered in housing design not adopting standard from developed world. Originality / value-The findings of this paper was based on reviewed of earlier studies on residential environmental livability particularly the public low-cost housing in Nigeria and the analysis of document of National Housing Policy 2012. The findings of this study revealed some guiding principles that can help in solving public low-cost housing problems in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, statistics has shown that over 7 out of every 10 people live below the minimum poverty level and 9 of every 10 are in the low-income group (Fadairo & Olotuah, 2013). This indicates that, these people cannot provide housing for themselves, they need intervention from government through public low-cost housing. Public Low-cost housing has been defined as constructed public residential houses funded  by the government or in partnership with the government under the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, to provide affordable housing for low-income people  (Ayoola & Amole, 2014; Makinde, 2014a). The results indicated that, there is need to consider users preferences in construction of public low-cost housing so as achieve maximum satisfaction. Research Objectives The purpose of this paper is to explore the design of public low-cost housing in Jigawa State, Nigeria and assess how residents perceived the housing units in relation to their culture since housing units are constructed or an intervention of the government for low-income earners. Thus, the paper would serve as a blueprinted government, housing policy makers and housing developers to understand that, the housing constructions and infrastructural elements should reflect the cultural background of the beneficiaries. Views of beneficiaries before and after construction of public low-cost housing are of great importance. Methodology This research was conducted through both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In qualitative aspect, three respondents were interviewed to express their perception on the public low-cost housing design, while quantitative aspect assessed the residential housing attributes of low-cost housing estates with view to identify the most important housing attributes considered by the residents through descriptive statistics and Relative Importance Index (RII). This was achieved through a well-structured questionnaire administered to the residents of public low-cost housing of Jigawa state, Nigeria although without considering other categories of housing type and high-income people. Previous studies such as Lukuman, Sipan, Raji, and Aderemi (2017), Tanko, Abdullah, and Ramly (2017) and Adegoke (2016) used RII on various studies. Results The results indicated that, the design of public low-cost housing in Jigawa State, Nigeria does not reflect the culture of the residents, most of the residents are not satisfied with it. In addition, out of fifty five (55) constructs from five (5) housing-related dimensions, the result identified thirty two (32) important attributes out of these, the residents considered twelve (12) to be the most important attributes affecting their well-being. Findings The residents of public low-cost housing preferred the housing design that will ensure privacy of their family in term of; provision of wall demarcation; more number of bedrooms, toilets and the position of main entrance should not face directly to the main street/road. The residents also, found sharing of toilets system and common roofing as part of housing design that affect the well-being. Other public low-cost housing attributes that perceived and ranked as the most important to them are; Masjid, social interaction, neighbors’ friendliness and helpful. Therefore, future construction of public low-cost housing in Jigawa State should incorporate these attributes/items in order to improve the well-being of the residents. Acknowledgement I appreciate the effort and proper supervision given to me by the chairman of my supervisory committee in person of Prof. Ahmad Hariza Hashim (PhD) and Co-supervisors; Prof. AsnarulKhadi Abu Samah (PhD) and Associate Prof. Nobaya Ahmad.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the design of public low-cost housing in Jigawa State, Nigeria and assess how residents perceived the housing units in relation to their culture and impact on their well-being. The housing units were constructed as an intervention by the government for low-income earners. This research was conducted through both qualitative and quantitative approaches. In qualitative aspect, three respondents were interviewed to express their perception on the public low-cost housing design, while quantitative aspect assessed the residential housing attributes of low-cost housing estates with view to identify the important housing attributes considered by the residents for their well-being and was used to support the qualitative aspect. This was achieved through descriptive statistics using Relative Importance Index (RII). A well-structured questionnaire was administered to the residents of public low-cost housing of Jigawa state, Nigeria. The results indicated that, the design of public low-cost housing in Jigawa State, Nigeria does not reflect the culture of the residents, most of the residents were not satisfied with it. In addition, out of fifty five (55) constructs from five (5) housing-related dimensions, the result identified thirty two (32) important attributes out of these, the residents considered twelve (12) to be the most important attributes affecting their well-being. Thus, the paper would serve as a blueprinted government, housing policy makers and housing developers to understand that, the housing constructions and infrastructural elements should reflect the cultural background of the beneficiaries. Views of beneficiaries before and after construction of public low-cost housing are of great importance. The findings of this paper were based on reviewed of earlier studies on residential-housing units, field work and research conducted on particularly the public low-cost housing in Jigawa State, Nigeria