Assessing the quality of life of urban residents in greater Kuala Lumpur / Siti Nurul Munawwarah Roslan

Siti Nurul Munawwarah , Roslan (2022) Assessing the quality of life of urban residents in greater Kuala Lumpur / Siti Nurul Munawwarah Roslan. PhD thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Quality of life in urban areas has become an important factor for sustaining urban living. A wide range of factors contribute to quality of life, and neighbourhood satisfaction is one such factor that has been highlighted by many researchers. Households located in urban areas can benefit from a variety of urban infrastructure and services provided by the public sector to achieve a better standard of living. However, an increase in the number of urban population has resulted in higher rates of unemployment, poor residential and environment quality, climate change, and poor provisions for shelter, and amenities in urban areas. The high rate of migration will also generate a demand for more affordable housing, development of new residential areas, acceptable cost of living, employment and job opportunities, good environment, and physical features. This gap, addressed in the study, proposes pertinent environment and housing attributes relevant to improving urban quality of life. This study aims to explore the level of neighbourhood satisfaction and the quality of life perceived by urban residents, assess the influence of neighbourhood attributes and housing attributes in elucidating neigbourhood satisfaction, and examine the role of neighbourhood satisfaction to facilitate the relationship between neighbourhood attributes and urban quality of life. Primary data, collected through a survey involving 530 respondents, were utilised in this study and SEM–AMOS was used for data analysis. This study covers seven local authorities in the Greater Kuala Lumpur namely Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Petaling Jaya City Council, Shah Alam City Council, Klang Municipal Council, Sepang Municipal Council, Subang Jaya Municipal Council and Selayang Municipal Council. The study revealed three significant findings: (1) quality of life is influenced by the satisfaction towards the neighbourhood which, in turn, is dependent on the gratification obtained from the socio/physical attributes, economics attributes, environment attributes, and housing attributes, (2) neighbourhood attributes and housing attributes considerably affect neighbourhood satisfaction, and (3) neighbourhood satisfaction partially mediates the relationship between neighbourhood attributes and quality of life. These findings are beneficial to the government and authorities for future urban planning. It can also be concluded that the local authorities and government should introduce improvements to the neighbourhood environment as this will greatly benefit the society by enhancing their quality of life.

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