IMPACT OF SOCIAL INTERACTION ON RESIDENTIAL SATISFACTION IN GATED COMMUNITIES IN AN INDIAN CONTEXT

This study aims to understand how social interaction among the residents influences residential satisfaction. The Indian private housing sector has witnessed a shift from independent houses to stand alone multifamily dwellings to the present gated communities. Gated communities came into existence with the purpose of creating a sense of belonging and wellbeing among the residents. Post Occupancy Evaluation approach was adopted to appraise the residential satisfaction of residents in 13 private gated communities in Chennai, India. Data was obtained through a questionnaire survey of 340 households from the gated communities by stratified random sampling. The data collected was analyzed using both descriptive statistics and Pearson's Chi-squared test. Analysis revealed that the users expressed higher levels of satisfaction with dwelling unit indicators like spatial layout, thermal comfort and natural ventilation but were dissatisfied with the housing estate indicators namely outdoor seating adequacy and location. The inferential analysis indicated that the association between resident social interaction frequency and residential mobility is of significance. This study emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the, requirements and expectations of the users of private gated communities.