Assessment of Residential Satisfaction in Mehr Housing Scheme: A Case Study of Sadra New Town, Iran

This paper aims to contribute to theory and practice concerning residential satisfaction in public housing through an assessment of the Mehr housing scheme (MHS), which is a significant project of the Iranian government's current development plans. This study is based on household surveys conducted in two MHS projects in the new town of Sadra, Iran. Data were collected through a sample of residents to explore their satisfaction with physical characteristics of housing units, public facilities and services, and also the social participation and cohesion among residents. Using descriptive statistics, factor analysis and categorical regression, the hypothesis that satisfaction is based on the relationship between different key factors was tested. The results of descriptive analysis demonstrate that only 32.5% of respondents were satisfied with living in MHS. Findings from categorical regression revealed that built environment variables such as buildings' physical features were the main determinants of respondents' overall satisfaction while the social features of the housing projects had little to no impacts on residents' contentment. These results suggest that while primary aspirations for physical characteristics of public housing and access to essential services and facilities were disregarded by planners, social association, cohesion and ties among residents will likely become less important.