Habitability of Public Space in Latin American Cities

Abstract

This article presents the results of a descriptive correlational study that researches the personal assessment of the conditions that characterize the habitability of public space in eleven cities of seven Latin American countries: Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. The research involved a total of 1823 people of both sexes and various age groups who assessed the importance and satisfaction of different characteristics and conditions of public space through an ad hoc questionnaire of 48 items. A multidimensional scaling analysis of smallest space (ssa) and partial ordering scalogram (posac) indicate that people evaluate the conditions explored based on the function that they attribute to the city’s public space. Despite the important differences among cities, there are coincidences on several characteristics of public space that, although considered important, are not reported as satisfactory. Aside the value of understanding the habitability of public space in Latin America, the results are discussed from the perspective of the implications for urban quality of life and for the formulation of public policy on urban planning and management