Residents’ Satisfaction with Public Spaces in Old Urban Residential Communities: A PLS-SEM and IPMA-Based Case Study of Nankai District, Tianjin

With the acceleration of urbanization, urban renewal and the renovation of old residential communities have become important measures to enhance the quality of cities and improve the living conditions of residents. How to scientifically identify and evaluate the environmental factors of public spaces and their impacts from the perspective of residents’ demands and satisfaction remains an important issue that urgently needs to be addressed in the current research field. This research takes the urban renewal project in Tiantuo Area, Nankai District, Tianjin, as an example by using questionnaire surveys, PLS-SEM and IPMA, and other multivariate statistical analysis methods to systematically explore the influence mechanism factors such as space accessibility, spatial usability, spatial maintainability, environmental comfort, and site safety on residents’ satisfaction. These findings reveal the following: (1) Space Accessibility has a significant direct positive impact on residents’ satisfaction. (2) Emotional Perception plays a complete mediating role in the relationship between Site Safety and residents’ satisfaction. (3) Emotional Perception has a complementary mediating effect in the relationship between Space Usability, Space Maintainability, Environmental Comfort, and Resident Satisfaction. (4) The renovation of old urban residential communities should give priority to improving space maintainability, especially focusing on the green landscape maintenance status, life-supporting infrastructure maintenance degree, and the maintenance status of entertainment and fitness facilities. Secondly, the space accessibility should be optimized and improved. In the future, in terms of the Physical Space, we should focus on the rationality of road network layout and strengthen the maintenance and management of public facilities. In terms of the Perceptional Space, the flatness of pavement should be optimized and the construction of security systems should be strengthened. In terms of the Psychological Status, a multi-party resident participation mechanism can be established to encourage residents to participate in the decision-making and construction of community public affair. As has been noted, this research quantitatively analyzed the key factors influencing residents’ satisfaction and their respective impact intensities and proposed prioritized and targeted optimization strategies for the existing situation. The research results are expected to provide a theoretical basis and practical decision-making reference for the optimization of public space environmental quality.