Influences of urban design on perceived social attributes and quality of life: a comparative study in two English neighbourhoods

Abstract

Although a well-planned and well-designed neighbourhood might seem essential for the social life and satisfaction of the residents of a neighbourhood, there is a limited amount of research that examines the influence of features of urban design on perceived social attributes. This article, based on comparative on-site assessments and survey research carried out in Angell Town (London) and Greater Leys (Oxford), UK, deliberately selected according to their contrasting types of planning/design, aims to investigate whether the situational, morphological, spatial, and aesthetic features of urban environment impact on neighbourhood attachment, satisfaction, and quality of life. Overall, the evidence from this study shows that perceived social attributes and quality of life are strongly linked to urban design and physical environment characteristics, as well as perceived physical attributes of the neighbourhood. The respondents of Angell Town, a consciously designed development, were found to have a stronger sense of community, more profound sense of the neighbourhood as home, stronger agreement on the friendliness of their neighbourhood, stronger attachment to their neighbourhood, more satisfaction with their neighbourhood, and richer perception of quality of life in their neighbourhood, compared to respondents of Greater Leys, a typical development based on planning that ignores urban design principles.