Villa Borinquen: A case study of the interaction of architectural, psychosocial, and community factors in a low-income housing development.
Item
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Title
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Villa Borinquen: A case study of the interaction of architectural, psychosocial, and community factors in a low-income housing development.
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Identifier
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AAI8914756
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identifier
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8914756
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Creator
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Hernandez, Carlos.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Gary Winkel
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Date
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1988
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Villa Borinquen is a low-rise, medium density 242 family housing development in downtown Jersey City. The Development is unique in that the local community, through community based agencies played a major role in initiating the concept for the housing, site selection, design of the complex and selection of tenants. Residents who are primarily low and lower middle income families have a greater than usual voice in the management of the development. The housing itself is designed in three quadrants and has a mixture of rowhouses, garden apartments and an eleven story apartment tower. Small plazas, private streets and protected open spaces unify the quadrants.;For this thesis one hundred twenty households were given in-depth interviews to ascertain their attitudes toward life in the development, the quality of the housing, use of public space, feelings about the community and commitment to neighborhood. These issues formed the basis for the creation of the investigation's variables. The major architectural, psychosocial and community variables were organized into theoretical models of causal relationships and path analyses were statistically obtained models. The theoretical models represented the investigator's assumptions of the interrelationships between the variables and therefore the obtained models tested the validity of these assumptions.;The results of the investigation generally supported the hypotheses that residents would be satisfied with the housing. It was also found that the general direction of the theoretical models of causal relationship were valid. Significantly, it was found that community variables and management policies played major roles in determining attitudes, perceptions, participation in housing activities and commitment to the neighborhood. Finally it was concluded that an understanding of the setting could only occur if one considered the interconnectedness of all the variables.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
