Assessment of Residents’ Level of Neighbourhood Satisfaction in Violence-Induced Segregated Urban Environments

Abstract

Urban violence has resulted into segregation of urban dwellers along neighbourhood divides in many cities of the world. It is well documented that neighbourhood satisfaction is a vibrant contributor to the overall wellbeing of urban dwellers; yet, investigative research on how satisfied are residents in such violence-induced segregated urban environments- a neighbourhood scenario where different ethnic, religious or ethno-religious groups previously co-existed but later parted as a result of inter-group violence, seems not to have been given sufficient attention as a specific matter of concern in neighbourhood studies. Exploring the attributes of the physical and social environment as well as neighbourhood facilities and public utilities, this study examined the level of neighbourhood satisfaction in the segregated Jos city of Nigeria, through a measure of central tendency and spread, employing SPSS-22. The study discovered that residents experienced low degree of satisfaction in both homogenous and mixed neighbourhoods identified in the city. Analysis however revealed significant differences between the two types of neighbourhood in terms of elements examined in relation to the three key attributes employed for the examination. Keywords: neighbourhood satisfaction, violence-induced, segregated urban environment, homogenous neighbourhood, mixed neighbourhood DOI: 10.7176/CER/12-6-07 Publication date: June 30 th 2020