The relationship between residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place in a Western Australian urban planned community

Residential satisfaction is important as it contributes to a person‟s psychological wellbeing and quality of life. Residential satisfaction develops due to physical factors such as the provision of parks and amenities within a community, social factors such as a feeling of belongingness to the community and social support within the community and personal factors such as homeownership and length of residence. Sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place also influence residential satisfaction; however, the extent that these contribute is unclear. As a result, this study investigated the contribution of these constructs to the development of residential satisfaction in the planned community of Ellenbrook, designed to promote these concepts. Additionally, this study investigated the relationship between residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place as well as the factors that comprise of these constructs. A quantitative approach was utilised in which 300 residents completed published questionnaires measuring residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of place and sense of belonging. to examine the extent that social, physical and personal predictors contributed to the development of residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place, a Kruskal-Wallis analysis was undertaken. The findings indicated that the social and physical factors: feelings of belongingness, community attachment, community participation, minimal fear of crime, community layout and design and housing density contribute to the experience of high levels of residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place. Regarding personal factors: age, ethnicity, homeownership, length of residence and educational level did not contribute to the development of residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place. However, marital status contributed to the development of sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place but not residential satisfaction. Household income and number of people known in the community contributed to the development of sense of community and sense of belonging, while gender contributed to the development of residential satisfaction and sense of community. These findings indicate that a community developed with sensitivity to people‟s social and personal needs as well as specific spatial planning elements, contribute to the development of residential satisfaction. The interrelation of sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place and their impact on residential satisfaction was explored through factor analysis. Results showed nine factors to emerge. One factor consisted of several residential satisfaction items along with the attraction to neighbourhood components of sense of community, and the place attachment components of sense of place, indicating the communality of these items. Despite efforts to use distinctive measures of these concepts, there is to a certain degree, an inseparable nature of the dimensions of residential satisfaction, sense of community and sense of place. The sense of belonging items emerged as a separate factor indicating it to have a unique identity from residential satisfaction, sense of place and sense of community. Additionally, three of the four place identity items emerged on one factor, as did the residential satisfaction items referring to feelings of dissatisfaction, suggesting the uniqueness of these items. To examine the relationship between residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place, regression analyses were performed. There was a significant positive relationship between residential satisfaction and sense of community χ2 (1,300) = 40.127, p < .05; residential satisfaction and sense of place χ2 (1,300) = 56.805, p < .05 and residential satisfaction and sense of belonging χ2 (1,300) = 25.848, p < .05. This indicates that sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place contribute to the development of residential satisfaction, supporting previous research. The examination of these concepts in conjunction is a new concept. As a result, this research provides a theoretical understanding of the interrelation, as well as the uniqueness, of residential satisfaction, sense of community, sense of belonging and sense of place. Practically, this research assists policy makers and planners to develop communities that encompass these concepts to avoid issues faced by unplanned communities.