Influence of Defensible Space and Spatial Composition on Neighbourhood Satisfaction in Public Housing Estate in Lagos
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Abstract
Public Housing generally is marked by a mix of challenges that often covers a wide range - from poor maintenance and overcrowding to safety concerns and a lack of community connection. These challenges are exacerbated in the context of rapidly growing cities leaving many of the residents feeling unsafe, dissatisfied and disconnected. This paper examines the interaction of defensible space elements of territoriality, surveillance and target hardening and the special composition of neighbourhoods in a public housing estate to influence neighbourhood satisfaction. The study utilizes the survey method using questionnaires to obtain data on relevant variables. The findings indicate that there is no significant difference in defensible space elements by house types (P<0.05) and that territoriality has the highest mean score (4.04). It also suggests that single family neighbourhood has greater percentage of defensible house types (62.6%). Overall the study found that in single family neighbourhood, target hardening is the most significant influence on satisfaction. For multiple family neighbourhoods, surveillance and target hardening are the most influencers satisfaction while all three: territoriality, surveillance and target hardening influence satisfaction in the entire study area suggesting their importance in improving this necessary goal of the urban public housing.
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