Validation of a scale to measure perceived residential environment quality in a Latin American setting / Validación de una escala para medir la percepción de la calidad del entorno residencial en un contexto latinoamericano

Abstract This article presents the findings of a research project that aimed to validate, in a Latin American setting, a scale to measure perceived residential environment quality (PREQ), developed principally on the basis of several studies conducted in different Italian cities in the 1990s. The instrument, a questionnaire comprising 19 sub-scales, was completed by 394 residents of Flores, in the canton of Heredia, Costa Rica. The scales were validated using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The results confirm reliability and validity for the majority of the 12 factors examined, in spite of geographical, morphological and socio-cultural dissimilarities between the different urban contexts where the studies were conducted. The scales for which a favourable result was not obtained were reconfigured and yielded good fit indices, also managing to reduce the number of factors to 11 ((1) Architecture and Urban Space; (2) Mobility, Transport and Connectivity; (3) Green Areas; (4) Socio-Relational Features; (5) Social Care; (6) Recreational Services; (7) Commercial Services; (8) Pace of Life; (9) Environmental Health; (10) Upkeep; (11) Place Attachment) along with the total number of items included on the instrument.