Evidence of Poor Environments in Shared Outdoor Spaces of Residential Complexes in Iran

Abstract

Nearly half a century has passed since the emergence of modernity’s aspects in the way of building houses in Iran. With long time passing from the life of this experience, the pattern of residential complex development did not change much compared to the beginning and its results can be seen in the design quality and satisfaction of residents from space. Clearly the expense of land as well as adequate knowledge and lack of awareness are the main reasons for the poor quality of design. Outdoor space in this type of development was under fundamental changes so that the type of ownership, access, and size of this space gained a different nature that has not been known clearly, and poor environmental quality is its main consequence. The scope of this paper is to recognize divergences – resulting in environment quality – from residential complex construction in Iran. For this goal, at the beginning some main concerns related to environmental quality are explained, and then related issues are examined. Finally, the quality of open spaces in residential complexes in Tehran, the capital of Iran, is discussed. In order to succeed in this objective, data have been derived from 235 cases in four residential complexes by means of a questionnaire that includes 54 questions, and results of this survey were evaluated by Chronbach’s Alpha and the percentage values were calculated by frequencies of the answers. It is concluded that the residents are not adequately satisfied by the quality of open environment provided by their housing units.