Towards sustainable cities: the role of residential satisfaction in facing COVID-19 in Makkah City in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of residential satisfaction in facing the outbreaks of the COVID-19. It reveals the relationship between personal risk perception (PRP), preventive behavior (PB), residential satisfaction (RS) and level of compliance with government recommendations to stay at home (CGRS) of Makkah residents in Saudi Arabia in its effort toward containing the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional online survey design was used with a sample of 250 respondents from Makkah City selected using a simple random sampling strategy. The instrument for data collection was a developed and validated instruments tag “Risk Perception and Preventive Behavior against COVID-19 Questionnaire (RP-COVID-Q).” The data obtained through the questionnaire were screened and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Similarly, a Partial-Least Square Structural Equation Modeling procedure was adopted to test the hypotheses with a bootstrap mediation effect test.FindingsThe results revealed that Makkah residents’ level of PRP, PB and CGRS was not found to vary with gender; however, the RS of the residents differs with respect to their gender. Moreover, the level of PRP was significantly related to PB, RS and level of CGRS. RS increased the likelihood of the Makkah residents to comply with government recommendations against COVID-19 while adherence to PB, which would contribute to the reduction in the spread of the pandemic in Makkah city. Further, the RS is recognized as a significant mediating factor between PRP and CGRS during the COVID-19.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study help in understanding the role of residential satisfaction during pandemics and, hence, stressing the important of residential qualities that need improvements for better sustainable cities in the future.Originality/valueWhile all countries are strategizing to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, it is equally important to access residential satisfaction in the cities with high visitor inflow. Limited research has been done in Saudi Arabia.