Sustainability, Vol. 11, Pages 2332: Territorial Cognition, Behavior, and Space of Residents: A Comparative Study of Territoriality between Open and Gated Housing Blocks; a Case Study of Changchun, China (Sustainability)

Residents have territorial cognition with different hierarchies and conduct corresponding behaviors in the outdoor space of housing blocks through sharing space and facilities. This mechanism stems from human need and might be influenced by physical environmental elements. To understand this effect, especially after a guideline for transforming existing gated housing blocks was enacted in China, this study compared the territoriality of open and gated housing blocks from the view of the cognition, behavior, and space through combined methods. Interview, snapshot, and observation were conducted to capture the situation of these three dimensions, then they were evaluated and grouped by factor analysis and quartiles. Obtained results in the open housing block were found to be inferior to that in the gated case. The conclusion was drawn based on the above that there are remarkable differences between open and gated housing blocks on the intensity of residents’ territorial cognition, the level and quantity of their territorial behaviors, and the distribution as well as continuity of the territorial space.