Abstract

Ensuring access to quality social housing is a major challenge for developing countries. The problems of standardized mass housing are well-known. However, this type of provision is ubiquitously used for its advantages when addressing pressing shortages, often resulting in significant mismatches between the attributes of the housing and the requirements of the dwellers. This multidisciplinary study explores linkages between personalized development and residential satisfaction towards informing a mass personalization approach to social housing. In specific, it presents a model that formalizes this relationship using expectancy disconfirmation theory and field information. A housing survey was conducted in four estates located in Concepcion, southern Chile, and complemented with environmental performance data generated with simulation software. The analysis of the results suggests that the relationship between occupants and providers (i.e., personalization as a service) can influence the build-up of expectations, while the capacity of the dwellings to meet the requirements of different households (i.e., personalization as a product) can have a significant impact on satisfaction. These outcomes are formalized with a model that acknowledges these links at different stages of occupancy and, therefore, can be used to inform the personalized development of mass social housing.