Determining Factors Influencing Residents’ Satisfaction Regarding Urban Livability in Pakistan

Abstract

Livability is an important and crucial aspect of urbanity which depicts quality of life. The emerging cities have a variety of urban challenges, including poor quality of life that has focused urban planners towards livability measures. Pakistani cities are facing similar challenges, like provision of adequate infrastructural facilities and amenities, due to which cities are losing their livability standards. Hyderabad, the second biggest city of Sindh Province, is an emerging metropolitan facing the same dilemma. The objective of this paper is to measure the livability as perceived by the residents. Six urban settlements were selected through stratified sampling to represent three income groups present in the study area, i.e. upper, middle and lower. Through systematic sampling, a sample size of 290 was procured for the household-based questionnaire survey, and descriptive statistics and multiple regression techniques were used. Results showed a significant relationship between perceived livability and livability attributes. The environmental attribute was found most significant in affecting livability perception of residents. The study also highlights eight livability variables which need to be considered for improving the quality of life in future urban development projects, not just in Pakistan, but also other developing countries.