MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERCEPTION OF RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT QUALITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTACHMENT IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

doi:10.1006/jevp.1999.0138

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Volume 19, Issue 4, December 1999, Pages 331-352

https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.1999.0138 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study tests a path model in which residential satisfaction, operationalized in terms of multidimensional perceived residential environment quality (PREQ), predicts neighbourhood attachment considered as the final criterion. Socio-demographic (age, sex, socio-economic level) and residential (length of residence both in the neighbourhood and in Rome, number of persons living together) variables are also included in the theoretical model as predictors of both PREQ and neighbourhood attachment. Using a multidimensional questionnaire for the measurement of PREQ and a unidimensional scale for the measurement of neighbourhood attachment, the study focuses on a sample of 497 inhabitants from 20 different neighbourhoods in the city of Rome. The multidimensional PREQ questionnaire comprises 20 different scales covering four main areas: architectural and town-planning features (six scales); social relations features (three scales); punctual and in-network services (six scales); context features (five scales). First, the path model is tested separately in each area using structural equation analysis. Then, the best predictors emerging from each area, together with all socio-demographic and residential variables, are included in a final model. This model shows both the relevance of predictors from all four areas in predicting attachment, and also a hierarchy between the areas in the power of the prediction (context area giving the most powerful predictors, services giving the weakest ones, architectural and town-planning, and social relations having intermediate importance). Length of residence in the neighbourhood and socio-economic level are the most relevant of the residential and socio-demographic variables. Results are discussed with reference to the multicomponential nature of the process of neighbourhood attachment.

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Regular ArticleMULTIDIMENSIONAL PERCEPTION OF RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT QUALITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTACHMENT IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Journal of Environmental Psychology

Place attachment: How many meanings?

Place Attachment. Human Behavior and Environment, Vol. 12

World views in psychology: Trait, interactional, organismic, and transactional perspectives

Neighborhood and community environment. Human behavior and environment

The evaluation of structural equation models and hypothesis testing

Structural Equations with Latent Variables

Multi-place analysis of the urban environment: A comparison between a large and a small Italian city

Environment and Behavior

U.N.E.S.C.O. Programme on Man and the Biosphere. Perception and Evaluation of Urban Environmental Quality. A Pluridisciplinary Approach in the European Context. M.A.B. Italia Project 11. Proceedings of the International Symposium. November 1991

Expert and Layperson Evaluation of Urban Environmental Quality: The ‘Natural’ versus the ‘Built’ Environment

A transactional perspective on residential satisfaction

Crowding and residential satisfaction in the urban environment: a contextual approach

Environment and Behavior

Disruptions in place attachment

The Psychology of Place

Regular Article
MULTIDIMENSIONAL PERCEPTION OF RESIDENTIAL ENVIRONMENT QUALITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD ATTACHMENT IN THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT