Appraisal on user satisfaction for neighborhood sustainability; A case from Colombo

Abstract

Neighbourhoods are the most-local communities of human habitat. Inhabitants sense that they intuitively realize what a ‘good neighbourhood’ mean, for their satisfaction, with the degree of neighbourly interactions; mutual support, gathering places, convenient and appealing environment, or in a ‘bad neighbourhood’, for dissatisfaction; danger, anti- social interaction, exclusiveness, isolation, inconvenience, and dereliction. In this paper, the inquiry into both architectural and environmental behaviour, is a growing body of qualitative, descriptive research, focusing on human responsiveness to a place, a neighbourhood. Particularly the study expresses neighbourhood as built environments, converging to the environmental experiences of residents. In response, they are the non-physical sensual component of built forms and spaces that refines the built environment inscribing a living quality into it. The study investigates the physical formation of the neighbourhood and it reveals the degree, of user satisfaction; to which the neighbourhood space is sensed from the viewpoint of inhabitant engagement.

Measuring the sustainability of neighborhoods: A systematic literature review

“… 34 Several of our reviewed articles studied the relationship between the physical form of neighborhoods and sustainability aspects. Researchers linked the neighborhood form and morphology to the quality of life, 35 , 36 resident satisfaction, 37 social sustainability, 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 vitality, 18 the socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods, 42 environmental sustainability, 43 , 44 , 45 solar energy access and resilience, 46 sociocultural sustainability, 47 and economic sustainability. 48 , 49 Figure 7 visualizes the relationship between various sustainable neighborhood criteria from the reviewed articles.…”

“… 48 , 49 Figure 7 visualizes the relationship between various sustainable neighborhood criteria from the reviewed articles.

Figure 7 Relationship between urban form and morphology and the sustainability criteria measured in the reviewed articles 18 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49

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“… Relationship between urban form and morphology and the sustainability criteria measured in the reviewed articles 18 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 …”

“…provision of various housing types, services, facilities, amenities (clinics, schools, parks, sports centers, supermarkets, etc. ), and open space through map analysis or field observation, Dissimilarity indices (entropy index and balance index), Percentage of commercial land, waterbody, industrial, institution, multi-family houses, single-family houses, recreation/parks, vacant or agricultural land, religious facilities, and roads, Residential land use per business land use ratio, Number of mixed-use plots, Residential per nonresidential area ratio, Economic floor area per total floor area ratio, Residential floor area per total floor area ratio, Single-function block area per neighborhood area ratio, Perceived land use mix (walkability to diverse functional land uses) 17 , 18 , 35 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 42 , 43 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 54 Green Spaces Green area density (Green area per unit area ratio), Proximity or Distance to green areas, Green space change rate, Accessibility to green spaces, gardens, and parks, Protection and preservation of green areas, Entropy Index, View of green spaces, Trees (block, external, street), Green roofs, Green facades, Green spaces for urban agriculture, Number of landscape assets, Green areas design, Provision of public green spaces in neighborhoods 2 , 5 , 10 , 15 , 42 , 43 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 Building Form and Typology Plot size and built proportion including types of external areas, such as side gardens, front gardens, parking lots, patios, etc., H/W ratio of the buildings, Building height (e.g., low-rise, high-rise, or number of stories), Construction type of building (e.g., brick, mix, mud), Building use/function, Age, Style (e.g., Victorian), Types of housing (courtyards, duplex, triplexes, and galleries/apartment or single-family houses, rowhouses, etc. ), Housing shapes (e.g., L-shape) 18 , 35 , 37 , 41 , …”

“… 57 According to researchers, it is the presence of a community bond that holds a neighborhood together. 37 Community participation is considered a critical component of social sustainability. It investigates residents’ engagement in community activities and volunteering to help improve their neighborhoods.…”