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Density, crowding, and satisfaction with the residential environment

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Abstract

The relationships between a set of measures of various components of environmental density and perceived crowding are examined in a data set from a sample of residents of a large metropolitan area. While there are meaningful patterns observed among the correlations, the primary finding is the weakness of the relationships between density and crowding. The implications of the weak relationship between objective and subjective measures intended to measure components of the quality of life, of which the present findings are an example, are discussed; the usefulness of subjective measures may lie primarily in their capacity to define what aspects of society should be monitored and included in a system of social accounting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Willard L. Rodgers

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  1. Willard L. Rodgers
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Additional information

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant No. 1 R01 MH 29278-01, ‘Quality of Life Indicators: Analysis of Detroit Data’.

Willard Rodgers, is Associate Research Scientist in the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, at the University of Michigan. Holder of a Ph.D from the University of Pennsylvania, he has directed research of the quality of American Life, and in particular on the quality of metropolitan life.

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Rodgers, W.L. Density, crowding, and satisfaction with the residential environment. Soc Indic Res 10, 75–102 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287219

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287219

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