Residential satisfaction: the resident´s experience as an urban planning tool. the case of the embajadores neighborhood, Madrid

Abstract

Urban rehabilitation projects make a signi cant effort to improve and revitalize the physical characteristics and social and productive dynamics of disadvantaged areas within the existing urban structure. However, perceptions or opinions based
on the resident’s experience are not always taken into consideration in these urban intervention processes, which leads to
the development of decontextualized, underused or inappropriate projects that can cause residential dissatisfaction in their inhabitants. The poor management of these procedures and the loss of information about the residents ́ assessment of these interventions also hinder the possibilities for feedback and improvement of these actions through the planning process. Based on the above, this article shows the results of an analysis of several indicators examined after an urban rehabilitation project
in a neighborhood of Madrid, Spain, with the purpose of showing the importance that some variables related to the changes lived in the neighborhood and residents ́ assessments of such alterations may have on residential satisfaction. The conclusions reveal the importance of including new instruments in the processes of urban planning that would make it possible to identify the perception of the residents throughout such processes.