Residents’ perception of privacy in selected public housing estates in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study assessed the residents’ perception of privacy and their privacy regulating mechanisms with a view to providing information that could improve public housing design. The study used quantitative and qualitative approach. A sample size of 565 household heads was selected for questionnaire administration using systematic random sampling, representing 50% of the sampling frame. In-depth interviews were conducted on twelve (12) key informants from among the executive of neighbourhood associations. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse quantitative data while content analysis was used for the qualitative data. About half of the residents (50.38%) perceived privacy as low or very low, with visual privacy being rated least (Privacy Perception Index, PPI = 2.34), followed by family (2.22), olfactory (2.12), aural (2.00), neighbourhood (1.79) and personal privacy (1.64). Positioning of spaces, orientation of openings, and absence of dedicated guest room, contributed to low perception of visual and family privacy. About 92% of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed to the use of privacy regulating mechanisms, with personal space and territorial behaviour being more adopted, while non-verbal behaviour was least adopted. The study concluded that perception of privacy was influenced more by housing characteristics than by residents’ socio-economic and cultural characteristics.