Comparative Study of Effective Components on Improving Residential Satisfaction in low income Residential Complexes (Case study: Mehr Ghadir Residential Complex, Mehr Farhangian Residential Complex, Mehr Koy Reza Residential Complex)

Lean construction has attracted plenty of attention during the past decade for provision of housing to the lower class. An important issue that has always appealed to large numbers of architecture and urban construction and planning researchers as post-planning assessments is to what extent and in what aspects the constructed condominiums satisfy their inhabitants once completed and utilized. Thus, useful suggestions can be made to decision-makers and planners of such projects for enhancement of the quality of life in the condominiums through identification of their strengths and weaknesses. An example of these lean construction projects is Mehr Housing, designed and implemented to meet the need for housing among the middle and lower classes of the Iranian society. It needs to be investigated, however, how successful the project has been, and to what extent it has satisfied the residents. Given the great diversity in the design of these condominiums in the city of Hamadan (in that some are enclosed, and others are connected to urban areas), Iran, little research has been focused on Mehr Housing. Therefore, the present research investigated three enclosed and unenclosed Mehr condominiums in Hamadan by focusing on the physical and spatial components governing such condominiums. These included the Ghadir, Farhangiyan, and Andishe (Kuy Reza) condominiums. Most global experiences suggest that the more favorable housing conditions that are expected in enclosed condominiums are not observed. This formed the basis of the research, a descriptive-analytical study in terms of the methodology adopted in the literature review and theoretical framework. ANOVA (with the Bonferroni method), independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis, and linear regression were used for data analysis. The results demonstrated that there were significant differences in average satisfaction between the three neighborhoods, with the Madani neighborhood exhibiting the highest average satisfaction, followed by the Beheshti and Andishe neighborhoods, in that order. A prioritization of the physical and spatial components effective on residential satisfaction in the three condominiums also suggested that environmental health was highly effective in enclosed condominiums, accompanied by amenities, additional facilities, and flexibility. Furthermore, the results obtained from the investigation of the relationships between satisfaction with architectural components and individual, demographic, and residential components demonstrated that there were no significant relationships in any of the three neighborhoods between satisfaction on the one hand and age, gender, or academic degree on the other. However, the neighborhood factor (which distinguished enclosed and unenclosed neighborhoods) exhibited significance, where total satisfaction was generally higher in enclosed condominium residents, confirming the main hypothesis of the research.