KEY FACTORS INFLUENCING THE FAMILY-FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOOD THROUGH PLS-SEM MODEL ASSESSMENT. CASE STUDY: SS4, PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Urbanisation brought about by advances in human civilisation affects the daily life of the people. The rising trend in the percentage of dual-earner households had created many problems for families living in cities. This has resulted in challenges of work-life balance, caregiving demands in raising children and dependents as well as running a household, and physical and social environment issues in the urban neighbourhood. The cities should be designed to accommodate the needs of families in terms of public facilities and social capital within the neighbourhood and the nearby surrounding urban areas. Hence, this study aimed to assess the relationship between physical and social environment factors within the local community in the study area through 248 questionnaire survey distributed to the head of household as a target group of this study via systematic and stratified sampling. The modelling analysis revealed that, social environment factor is the main factor that most positively influences the level of family-friendly neighbourhood than the physical environment factor in terms of trusted, willing to help, feel connected, get along with one another, give support, close-knit neighbourhood and share same value among families and communities in the study area. Thus, the needs of urban families and communities towards social capital should be taken into consideration in the study area, specifically.