Stakeholder assessment of design quality indicators for community centers: a Delphi approach

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to establish design quality indicators (DQIs) that can be utilized for assessing the design of community centers, with an emphasis on the technical, functional, and behavioral performance domains.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive literature review resulted in identifying 79 DQIs for community centers. A three round Delphi evaluation approach was utilized to rate the importance of the DQIs through their relative importance index (RII) values. The assessment of the DQIs involved a diverse group of stakeholders including facilities managers, architects/engineers (A/Es), community centers’ staff, and regular visitors of community centers.

Findings

The majority of the established DQIs were considered to be either “Very Important” or “Important”.

Practical implications

The established DQIs can be utilized to identify best practices in the design of community centers and benchmark the performance of different community centers.

Originality/value

The design quality of community centers could significantly impact the community's quality of life and user experience. The development of DQIs provides for enhanced accountability and improved service delivery for the communities they serve. This enables community centers to be more effective, efficient, and responsive to the needs of the users they support.