A Critical Appraisal of Residents' Level of Satisfaction with Architectural Designs in Public Housing Estates in Benin City Nigeria

Housing plays a significant role in the Socio-economic and physical development of any nation. Housing which is regarded as the oldest aspect of architecture has been found to have a profound impact on its inhabitants. This is so because architecture has been attributed to have some impact on the physical, psychological and emotional needs of occupants both positively and negatively. There is therefore a nexus between architectural schemes, the environment and residents. This study examines the residents’ satisfaction level in terms of architectural designs in six built and occupied housing estates in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria. Data were collected in 2018 from six (6) housing estates namely: Oluku Housing Estate, EDPA Housing Estates Ugbowo, Federal Housing Estate, Oregbeni, and Federal Housing Estate on Ikpoba Hill, Iyekogba Housing Estate, Ebo and Andrew -Wilson Housing Estate, Evbuoriaria; through administration of structure questionnaires, interviews and direct observations. Data analysis involved the utilization of descriptive statistical tools such as means, standard deviations, and categorical regression. The result revealed that architectural design of the estates has a positive effect on residents’ satisfaction and this is significant at 5% (p=0.000) which means enhancement in the architectural design of the estates results in high satisfaction levels. The paper proposes that architectural design of any building should consider the way of life of the people, the economic means and affordability of the low-income workers in order to achieve the desired goal. It further recommends that architectural design process should be explored to the fullest in the determination and realization of housing quality and hence residents’ satisfaction in the built environment.