Aspects of environmental quality of life that affect neighbourhood satisfaction in disadvantaged and advantaged Johannesburg communities

Abstract

To ascertain which aspects of environmental quality of life affect neighbourhood satisfaction, a study was conducted with 303 tenure allocated residents of an informal settlement in Soweto, 160 residents of a squatter camp in the same informal settlement, and 375 black and 358 white residents of a middle-class Johannesburg suburb. Respondents rated their satisfaction with housing, public schools, public clinics, public transport, roads, personal safety, street lighting, household refuse removal, jobs, local government and the neighbourhood. Black suburbanites tended to be more satisfied than the other three groups with most of these aspects. Stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that housing and personal safety accounted for 45 per cent (informal settlement), 21 per cent (squatter camp), 33 per cent (black suburbanites), and 28 per cent (white suburbanites) of the variance in neighbourhood satisfaction. The findings substantiated the importance of housing and personal safety in both disadvantaged and advantaged communities.