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Built Environment

The major category Built Environment had more unfavourable responses (59.9 per cent) than favourable responses (35.0 per cent), but of the total of 1,394 unfavourable responses for the entire sample, only 5.9 per cent referred to any aspects of the built environment, such as the quality and suitability of housing and other buildings; the supply, quality, operation, and maintenance (but not costs) of utilities (such as sewerage, garbage collection, and water supply); provision of streets and footpaths; general comments relating to town planning (such as size of dwelling sites, traffic density, etc.); and industrial pollution, but not dust. (Appendix B explains the major and minor subcategory titles and the basis for response interpretation. Apart from one or two minor changes marked by*, the scheme follows Brealey and Newton's CSIRO report [1978] .)

In table 4.3 comparison between the favourable and unfavourable responses is made for each of the minor categories that made up this and each of the other seven major factors. The table also shows the response pattern obtained by Brealey and Newton 11978) in their studies of Hedland, a mining-related centre in the arid north-west of Western Australia. Appendix C represents the results for all responses, and reference to it will show that dissatisfaction with building designs (usually houses} and with the provision, operation, and maintenance of utilities is dominant. Of all prompts, 4.2 per cent produced state-meets about the built environment. (The reader should be careful not to confuse the number of responses, with the number of people in the sample; the former is over ten times larger.)

Table 4.4 presents each prompt used in the field studies as well as the response characteristics associated with it. To assist interpretation of this table, consider the first prompt, "I think that the greatest difference between living here and living in a capital city is ..." There were 20 responses to this particular prompt out of a possible 233 if every subject had wanted to write something about the built environment but nothing about any other aspect of life experience in Alice Springs.

All 20 were favourable, and this represented 8.6 per cent of all responses to the first prompt. A greater proportion of all responses about the built environment (14.8 per cent) was drawn from the third prompt, "More attention should be paid to ..." Here the responses were unfavourable, especially in relation to buildings and utilities (see table

FIG. 4.2. Previous Place of Residence of Sample Population: Alice Springs Survey-January-February 1980, 1981 and for Paraburdoo, Western Australia, 1980 4.3). For 16 per cent of the sample population this prompt produced comments about the built environment.

TABLE 4.2. Response Pattern to Major Categories, 1980 and 1981

Row Indeterminate Favourable Unfavourable Totals
Not answered 641     641
100.0     100.0
56.4     19.7
19.7     19.7
1.Built environment 7 48 82 137
5.1 35.0 59.9 100.0
0.6 6.6 5.9 4.2
0.2 1.5 2.5 4.2
2.Natural environment 6 41 137 184
3.3 22.3 74.5 100.0
0.5 5.6 9.8 5.6
0.2 1.3 4.2 5.6
3.Isolation 22 18 338 378
5.8 4.8 89.4 100.0
1.9 2.5 24.2 11.6
0.7 0.6 10.4 11.6
4. Commerce,
administrative policy		 2 14 43 59
3.4 23.7 72.9 100.0
0.2 1.9 3.1 1.8
0.1 0.4 1.3 1.8
5.Community facilities 4 16 160 180
2.2 8.9 88.9 100.0
0.4 2.2 11.5 5.5
0.1 0.5 4.9 5.5
6.Community dynamics 152 271 124 547
27.8 49.5 22.7 100.0
13.4 37.0 8.9 16.8
4.7 8.3 3.8 16.8
7.Economic factors 3 13 71 87
3.4 14.9 81.6 100.0
0.3 1.8 5.1 2.7
0.1 0.4 2.2 2.7
8.Miscellaneous 175 183 358 716
24.4 25.6 50.0 100.0
15.4 25.0 25.7 21.9
5.4 5.6 11.0 21.9
9. Not identified with above categories 124 128 81 333
37.2 38.4 24.3 100.0
10.9 17.5 5.8 10.2
3.8 3.9 2.5 10.2
Total N 1,136 732 1,394 3,262
Row % 34.8 22.4 42.7 100.0
Column % 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Total % 34.8 22.4 42.7 100.0

FIG. 4.3. The Response Pattern for Major and Minor Categories and Comparison with the Results from Hedland, Western Australia

TABLE 4.3. Percentage of Favourable and Unfavourable Comments in Major and Minor Categories from Incomplete Statements and Comparison with Hedland, Western Australia (Alice Springs sample 233, Hedland sample 109)

Category and Subcategory
(Total may differ due to rounding)		 Alice Springs Hedland
Favourable Unfavourable Favourable Unfavourable
Built environment
1.1 Buildings 1.1 2.6 4.7 2.6
1.2 Utilities 0.5 2.2 0.1 1.6
1.3 Streets - 0.1   1.2
1.4 Town planning 3.0 0.9 0.9 3.2
1.5 Pollution 1.9 - 0.6 0.5
Total 6.6 5.9 6.3 9.1
Natural environment
2.1 Climate 3.3 2.4 1.2 1.8
2.2 Temperature 0.3 3.8 0.1 2.1
2.3 Topography 1.4 0.1   0.1
2.4 Flora and fauna 0.5 0.1   1.6
2.5 Dust - 0.2   0.5
2.6 Water surface 0.1 3.2 Not applicable  
Total 5.6 9.8 1.4 6.0
Isolation and access
3.1 Feeling of isolation 1.8 12.5 0.3 2.8
3.2 Communication - 0.6 0.2 1.2
3.3 Transportation 0.1 9.4 0.2 1.9
3.4 Holidays - 0.4 0.1 0.4
3.5 Relatives 0.1 0.9 0.1 0.5
3.6 Other 3 0.3 0.4   0.1
Total 2.5 24.2 0.9 6.7
Administrative policy
4.1 Work situation - - 0.4 0.4
4.2 Town and citizen welfare 0.4 0.6 0.9 1.6
4.3 Other 4 1.5 2.5 0.8 3.3
Total 1.9 3.1 2.1 5.4
Community facilities
5.1 Education - 0.6 0.7 0.9
5.2 Entertainment, recreation 1.1 6.0 1.6 10.1
5.3 Health 0.3 0.5 0.1 2.7
5.4 Shopping, commercial services 0.1 2.2 0.1 6.1
5.5 Local transport - 1.6   0.6
5.6 Other 5 0.7 0.6 0.1 2.2
Total 2.2 11.5 2.5 22.6
Community dynamics
6.1 Alcohol and gambling - 4.8 0.1 0.7
6.2 Social relationships 29.8 1.9 7.9 4.7
6.3 Civic pride - 0.4   0.2
6.4 Children's future 0.4 -   0.4
6.5 Standard of living 0.8 0.1 0.4 0.2
6.6 Work opportunities, relationships 2.6 0.4 2.8 0.4
6.7 Family cohesiveness 2.3 0.3 0.7 0.6
Other 6 1.1 1.0 0.3 0.6
Total 37.0 8.9 12.1 7.8
Economic considerations
7.1 Cost of living 0.1 4.6   4.7
7.2 Rent, rates 0.1 0.2 0.8 0.2
7.3 Wages, savings 1.4 0.1 3.5 0.6
7.4 Land prices 0.1 0.1    
7.5 Other 7 - 0.1   0.6
Total 1.8 5.1 4.3 5.7
Miscellaneous
8.1 Challenge 1.5 0.2 0.4 -
8.2 Length of stay 1.6 1.1 0.3 0.5
8.3 Aboriginal issues 4.4 8.4 0.1 0.1
8.4 Travel - - 0.7  
8.5 Local origin - - Not
applicable		  
8.6 Tourism 13.8 5.3 1.5 0.6
8.7 Town size 3.7 10.6    
Total 25.0 25.7    
Not identifiable 17.5 5.8 1.9 1.3
Sub total N 732 1,394 576 1,130

The Hedland data is from Brealey and Newton (1978). In Appendix C the full table of responses from the 1980 and 1981 Alice Springs field surveys, including those which were indeterminate, is presented.

TABLE 4.4. Distribution of Responses to Incomplete Statement Prompts as Percentages of the Total Frequency with Total as Actual Frequency

Prompt Mode of Response

Category
Built environ- ment Natural environ- ment Isolation & access Adminis- trative policy Community facilities Community dynamics Economic consideration Miscel laneous Non-identifi- able Not answered Total
1. I think that the greatest difference between living here and living in a capital city is Favourable 8.6         48.5 0   2.1    
Unfavourable   0.9 8.6   9.0 1.3 7.7 0.9      
Indeterminate   0.4 0.9     3.4   0.4 2.6 5.2  
Total N = 20 3 21   21 124 18 3 11 12 233
2.Living here would be..if it weren't for Favourable 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.9 2.2 0.9    
Unfavourable 2.2 7.7 22.7 3.0 5.1 5.5 5.2 18.4 2.6    
Indeterminate     0.4   0.4 0.9     1.7 13.7  
Total N= 6 19 55 8 14 16 14 57 12 32 233
3. More attention should be paid to Favourable 0.4             3.4      
Unfavourable 14.8 0.9 17.1 4.7 26.6 6.0 1.7 4.7 2.2    
Indeterminate 0.4         3.2 1.6 3.0 6.9      
Total N= 37 2 40 11 62 22 5 26 12 16 233
4.There is too much emphasis on Favourable   0.4           2.1 0.4    
Unfavourable 0.4   1.3 4.7 1.7 23.1 0.4 21.0 5.2    
Indeterminate     0.9 0.9 0.9 15.0 2.2 19.3      
Total N = 1   6 13 4 56 1 89 18 45 233
5.Living here is like Favourable   0.4 1.7 0.4 7.7 0.9 7.7        
Unfavourable   0.9 9.9 0.9 0.4 1.7 0.9 2.6 3.0    
Indeterminate     2.2     0.4   3.1 18.5 36.9  
Total N =   3 32 2 2 23 2 15 68 86 233
6.I am glad that Favourable 3.0 3.9 1.3 4.6 1.3 6.9   3.9 19.0    
Unfavourable 0.4 3.5 2.2   0.9 1.3 0.9 8.6 2.2    
Indeterminate     1.7   0.4 0.4 0.4 5.6 26.7    
Total N = 8 17 12 9 6 20 3 33 62 62 232
7.I wish that it wasn't so Favourable   0.9 0.4         0.4      
Unfavourable 2.2 23.2 36.5 0.4 2.2 2.2 3.9 3.4 1.7    
Indeterminate   0.9 0.9         0.9 0.9 19.3  
Total N = 5 58 88 1 5 5 9 11 6 45 233
8.I would rather live Favourable     0.4     0.9   3.4 13.3    
Unfavourable 0.9 7.0 19.7 0.4 3.0 1.9 0.4 2.2 8.6    
Indeterminate   1.3 1.3     0.9   3.0 4.3 27.3  
Total N= 2 20 50 1 7 8 1 20 61 63 233
9.Living here I find that I Favourable 0.9 1.7 0.4   0.9 26.6 1.7 5.1 3.9    
Unfavourable 0.4 1.3 9.0 0.4 5.5 5.9 3.4 4.2 3.9    
Indeterminate           2.6   4.7 3.9 24.5  
Total N = 3 7 23 1 16 80 12 7 27 57 233
10.The aspect of riving condition here which I think most important is Favourable 6.9 7.7 0.4 0.9 1.6 17.6 0.9 0.9 2.6    
Unfavourable 8.6 2.5 1.3   0.4 0.9 4.7 0.9      
Indeterminate 2.6       0.4 1.3 0.4 0.9 2.2 32.2  
Total N = 42 24 5 2 8 46 14 6 11 75 233
11.I came here because Favourable 0.4 2.6 1.3 0.4 1.7 7.2 1.7 2.9 4.7    
Unfavourable           0 4          
Indeterminate           50.4   13.8 5.6 6.0  
Total N= 1 6 3 1 3 135 4 41 24 14 232
12. The tourist industry Favourable               42.5      
Unfavourable         0.4   0.4 23.7      
Indeterminate               17.2   15.9  
Total N =         1   1 194   37 233
13.If only Favourable     0.4     0.4 0.4 2.2 0.4    
Unfavourable 4.7 10.8 16.8 3.9 12.9 3.8 0.9 8.1 5.2    
Indeterminate     0.9         2.1 2.2 22.8  
Total N = 11 25 42 10 30 11 3 29 18 53 232
14.If Alice Springs were twice the size Favourable               11.6 0.9    
Unfavourable         0.4     58.8      
Indeterminate               10.3 0.4 18.9  
Total N =         1     185 3 44 233
Total responses for each major category 136 184 377 59 180 546 87 716 333 641 3,259
Percentages of all responses 4.2 5.6 11.6 1.8 5.5 16.8 2.6 21.9 10.2 19.7 100

 

A majority of comments were unfavourable (induced by the biased prompt), especially about the quality and suitability of housing and the supply, quality, and operation of services (utilities) such as electricity, sewerage, and garbage collection. On the other hand, distance to work and traffic densities were favourably viewed and were often expressed as being in marked contrast to experiences in the capitals and larger cities of Australia.

Absence of pollution was also stated as a positive attribute of the built environment.

TABLE 4.5. Ranking of Minor Category Responses > 1 Per Cent

Ranking of Favourable
Responses Above 1 Per Cent		 Ranking of Unfavourable
Responses Above 1 Per Cent
Rank Item % of N
N = 782		 Rank Item % of N
N = 139
1 Social relations 29.8 1 Isolation 12.5
2 Tourism 13.8 2 Increase town size 10.6
3 Race issues 4.4 3 Transport costs 9.4
4 Town size 3.7 4 Race issues 8.4
5 Climate 3.3 5 Recreation facilities 6.0
6 Planning 3.0 6 Tourism 5.3
7 Work opportunities 2.6 7 Alcohol end gambling 4.8
8 Family cohesiveness 2.3 8 Cost of living 4.6
9 Pollution 1.9 9 Temperatures 3.8
10 Isolation 1.8 10 Water surface 3.2
11 Length of stay 1.6 11 Buildings 2.6
12 Challenge 1.5 12 Climate 2.4
13 = Topography/scenery 1.4 13 = Utilities 2.2
13 = Wages 1.4 13 = Retail and commerce 2.2
15 = Recreation facilities 1.1 15 Social relations 1.9
15 = Buildings 1.1 16 Local transport 1.6
      17 Intended length of stay 1.1

The table illustrates the proportion of each minor category of responses to open-ended statement prompts. For instance, social relations 29.8 favourable means that 29.8 per cent of all favourable responses were about social relations.

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