Factors Related to Satisfaction in Social Housing in Colombia and Chile: Analysis with Structural Equation Models

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that residential satisfaction after relocation from informal settlements to social housing in Latin American intermediate cities is mainly associated with the perception of security, social relationships, housing expenses, spatial attributes, and environmental comfort. They also point to the moderating effects of sociodemographic characteristics in such relationships. Given the limited quantitative research on the topic in the region, the objective is to evaluate the effect of a series of factors, theoretically linked to satisfaction in public housing, through the study of two cases in Manizales, Colombia and Concepción, Chile, using surveys for information collection and the PLS-SEM technique for analysis. The results reveal that, in the case of Manizales, satisfaction is associated with the dimensions of the sense of security, residential trajectory, and acoustic comfort; in Concepción, it is related to the dimensions of social cohesion (moderated by income), olfactory comfort, visual comfort, thermal comfort (moderated by residential trajectory), and sense of security. The research confirms the link with the factors of perception of security, social relations, environmental comfort, and sociodemographic conditions, specifying their significant dimensions and importance in each case, and discards a relationship with housing expenses and spatial attributes.