NCJ Number
109408
Journal
Journal of Security Administration Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: (December 1987) Pages: 35-45
Date Published
1987
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article discusses a survey instrument to measure levels of activity by actors and location. It is used to highlight potential problems in the design of housing and to identify existing problems in occupied housing.
Abstract
The self-administered survey was given to residents of two moderate-income, Housing and Urban Development-assisted, low-rise apartment complexes of 350 units apiece in the East Bay of metropolitan San Francisco. The survey population was almost entirely black, with 60- to 80-percent female heads of household and 20 percent eligible for public housing and welfare. Both housing projects had been occupied for 12 years and appeared to be well maintained except for heavily vandalized laundry structures. A total of 35 respondents in one housing complex and 16 randomly selected residents in the other, completed the survey. Findings indicated that an accurate instrument can be developed that would be useful to designers for diagnostic and predictive purposes. As a diagnostic tool, it can capture outdoor behavior more quickly and at less cost than can be done using observational approaches. As a predictive tool, it can test the assumptions of designers as to how their design actually would be used by the occupants once built. Survey instrument samples, tabular data, and 6 references.