Environment Behaviour Studies in Residential Architecture: A Post Occupancy Evaluation of Low-Income Group Apartments

The present study is a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) to find out the residential satisfaction of low-income group (LIG) dwellings provided by the West Bengal Housing Board (WBHB), POEs being one of the major modes of inquiry in environment-behaviour studies (EBS) research. The results of the study show the importance of having the contextual details such as the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of the user groups, their actual needs, aspirations and preferences as the basis of housing designs, instead of designing on the basis of assumptions.

This study presents a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) to assess residential satisfaction among low-income group (LIG) households in dwellings provided by the West Bengal Housing Board (WBHB). POE serves as a key approach in environment-behavior studies (EBS) research, focusing on user-centric evaluation. The findings emphasize the critical role of contextual factors, including socio-economic and cultural characteristics of the residents, alongside their needs, aspirations, and preferences, in shaping effective housing designs. The study highlights the limitations of assumption-based design approaches and advocates for user-informed housing solutions to enhance residential satisfaction and align with the actual requirements of the target population