Soc Indic Res (2008) 85:223–241

DOI 10.1007/s11205-007-9088-4

Retrospective and prospective evaluations

of environmental quality under urban renewal
as determinants of residents’ subjective quality
of life

Chau-kiu Cheung Æ Kwan-kwok Leung

Received: 18 July 2006 / Accepted: 9 January 2007 / Published online: 9 February 2007

Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007

Abstract Claims about the impacts of environmental quality associated with urban
renewal on the resident’s subjective quality of life are more speculative than
empirically grounded. To clarify the impacts of environmental quality under urban
renewal, this study surveyed 876 residents living in housing surrounding seven urban
renewal sites in Hong Kong. It shows that environmental quality, both perceived
(retrospectively) during and expected (prospectively) after urban renewal, exhibited
positive effects on the resident’s subjective quality of life. Furthermore, it reveals
that the subjective quality of life of the resident with higher education was less
responsive to environmental quality perceived during urban renewal. The findings
imply that more measures to mitigate the adverse social impact of urban renewal are
preferably available to residents with less education.

Keywords Quality of life Æ Environmental quality Æ Urban renewal Æ

Adaptation

1 Introduction

While urban renewal often raises the quality of life of residents staying in renewed
area (Cameron, 2003; Goodman & Monti, 1999), factors and conditions underlying
the benefit are unclear. It is a common speculation that as urban renewal proposes to
improve the quality of the environment, and this quality is supposedly salutary to the
resident, urban renewal will enhance the resident’s subjective quality of life.
Alternatively, the speculation would stem from the observation that as urban
renewal boosts land and housing value and business activities (Tse, 2002; Van
Criekingen & Decroly, 2003; Yiu & Wong, 2005), it enhances the resident’s personal
well-being. The speculation, nevertheless, overlooks the fact that objective or

C. Cheung (&) Æ K. Leung

Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong
Kong, HKSAR, China
e-mail: ssjacky@cityu.edu.hk
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economic quality of life does not necessarily elevate one’s subjective quality of life
(Rampichini & D’Andrea, 1998).
The discrepancy between objective and subjective quality of life can arise because
the individual’s subjective quality of life is a result of adaptation and consciousness
about the realization of potentialities (Diener & Lucas, 2000; Kluegel & Smith,
1986). The first reason is that the individual can adapt to objective conditions and
feel no more moralized after adaptation. An example is residents’ adaptation to
housing density in Hong Kong (Chan, 1999). Another reason holds that the indi-
vidual with favorable objective conditions would not be moralized when these
conditions are not their genuine favorites. If the individual’s subjective quality of life
is of concern (Vanclay, 2000), the exclusive focus on the objective quality of urban
renewal is not enough. Therefore, a social impact assessment of urban renewal
concerning residents’ subjective quality of life is a desirable practice (Burningham,
1995; Gismondi, 1997). Importantly, the assessment needs to clarify factors and
conditions affecting the resident’s subjective quality of life in the present study. Such
factors and conditions, as examined in this study, involve the quality of the envi-
ronment experienced during and expected after urban renewal. Particularly, the
resident’s education, as an indicator of adaptation resources, is a supposed condition
for mitigating the impacts of environmental quality examined in the study.
Environmental quality covers quality about atmosphere, noise, land use, open
area, greenery, sanitation, housing maintenance, sewage, and environmental safety
in the neighborhood (Fisher & Frendenburg, 2004; Riad & Norris, 1992). The
contrast between reduction and improvement in environmental quality is a unique
feature in urban renewal. This means a discontinuity in environmental quality from
the process to the ending of urban renewal. This discontinuity would occur partic-
ularly in environmental quality when noise, air, water, and housing conditions are
sharply different during and after urban renewal. Apparently, these conditions are
consumables depleted and replenished constantly (O’Connor, Bord, Yarnel, &
Wiefele, 2002). Hence, the worse the environmental quality perceived during urban
renewal, the larger is the room for improvement in the environmental quality
expected after urban renewal. The impacts of experienced and expected environ-
mental quality factors are the focus of the present study of residents staying in an
urban renewal area in Hong Kong. Precisely, these residents dwelled in housing
surrounding the renewal site, and had no need to move out the area due to the
renewal. Hence, removal would not be a factor interfering with the impact of
environmental quality.

1.1 Impacts of environmental quality on subjective quality of life

While environmental quality in general may contribute to the resident’s subjective

quality of life (Lu, 1999), the contribution is not consistently clear (Sirgy, 1998),
especially when the contribution is due to environmental quality arising from urban
renewal (Atkinson, 1999). The latter concern represents suspicion about the effec-
tiveness of urban renewal in promoting residents’ quality of life, apart from acti-
vating business in the renewed area. On the other hand, environmental quality
would contribute to the resident’s subjective quality of life, based on livability theory
(Hagerty, 1998; Radcliff, 2001). The theory posits that conditions that satisfy the
basic human needs for living sustains the resident’s subjective quality of life (Diener
& Biswas-Diener, 2002).
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Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality 225

The application of livability theory to explaining the impacts of environmental

quality further benefits from its integration with two qualifications, pertaining to
expectation and comparison models. The expectation model suggests that the
expectation of living conditions can stem from retrospection and projection.
Evidence has not clearly demonstrated the relative strength of backward or retro-
spective expectation (Yiu & Wong, 2005) and forward or prospective expectation
(Lockerbie, 1991). While the strength of retrospective expectation stems from the
view that the individual is a cognitive miser (Holbrook, Green, & Krosnick, 2003),
the strength of prospective expectation embodies the view about rational, forward-
looking thinking (Funk & Garcia-Monet, 1997; Sears, 1993). In the context of urban
renewal, retrospective expectation is that built on the evaluation of environmental
quality perceived during the process of urban renewal, whereas prospective expec-
tation is that referring to the quality expected after the completion of urban renewal.
According to the retrospective model, environmental quality experienced during the
process of urban renewal would determine the resident’s subjective quality of life.
Alternatively, the prospective model states that expected environmental quality
after urban renewal leads to the resident’s subjective quality of life.
The differentiation of the impacts of environmental quality perceived during and
expected after urban renewal is especially crucial in the comparison model (Hagerty,
1998; Radcliff, 2001; Saris, 2001). This model holds that improvement in environ-
mental quality is a determinant of subjective quality of life. As the improvement
means environmental quality expected after urban renewal minus environmental
quality perceived during renewal, the model implies a negative effect of environ-
mental quality perceived during renewal and a positive effect of environmental
quality expected after renewal. In other words, environmental quality perceived
during urban renewal represents a reference point for deriving environmental
quality improvement, which in turn contributes to subjective quality of life. This
comparison model principally builds on the assumption that the experience of
environmental quality has no contribution, apart from serving as a reference point
(Schyns, 2001). Instead, the model emphasizes that aspiration is the process
underlying the formation of subjective quality of life.
The resident’s education level attained is a condition hypothesized to assuage the
impact of environmental quality related to urban renewal. Education is an important
agent of modernization and social change (Inglehart, 1990). With the expansion of
education benefiting more people, it provides essential clues to predicting social
change in future, when more people have better education. Hence, one’s education
received is a common conditioning factor (i.e., moderator) for examining differential
effects among different people (Krosnick et al., 2002; Schieman & Taylor, 2001).
Besides, one’s education may introduce its moderating effect because of its nature as
a socializing resource for promoting diversity, tolerance, competence, coping,
adaptation, and autonomy (Triandis, 1995; Xiao, 2000). This thesis of education as a
coping resource suggests that education would offer a distraction effect that
diminishes one’s susceptibility to environmental conditions. That is, education
diversifies one’s interest, amplifies one’s tolerance for and adaptation to noxious
stress, and insulates and thereby immunizes one from the stress. This expectation is
consistent with the growth of a middle class that is invulnerable and inattentive to
economic and environmental stresses (Bridge, 2003). Apparently, education
contributes to one’s sense of ontological security in the turmoil of job insecurity
(Van Criekingen & Decroly, 2003). It can shield one from the onslaught of
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environmental stress, including that stemming from urban renewal. Moreover,

education would advance one’s intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy (Gallie, White,
Cheng, & Tomlinson, 1998; Ross & Mirowsky, 1992) and thereby bolster subjective
quality of life (Furnham & Cheng, 2000). The overall implication is that one’s
education possibly dampens the impact of environmental quality on subjective
quality of life.

1.2 Hypotheses summarized

The above furnishes the following alternative hypotheses about the impacts of
environmental quality related to urban renewal on the resident’s subjective quality
of life.
Hypothesis 1 (based on the expectation model) The quality of the environment
perceived during and expected after urban renewal has a positive effect on the
resident’s subjective quality of life. This hypothesis generally reflects that the case
that environmental quality perceived during and expected after urban renewal
satisfy the resident’s need for livability. The positive effect of environmental quality
perceived during and expected after urban renewal would endorse the retrospective
expectation model and prospective expectation model respectively.

Hypothesis 1.1 The effect of the quality of the environment is weaker in the resident
with higher education. This hypothesis would regard education as a coping resource
that insulates the resident from environmental influences.

Hypothesis 2 (based on the comparison model) The quality of the environment

perceived during urban renewal has a negative effect on the resident’s subjective
quality of life. This hypothesis, as an antithesis to the first part of Hypothesis 1,
derives from the comparison model that holds earlier quality as a comparison
reference point to form subjective quality of life. It states that improvement over
past quality is the determinant of subjective quality of life.

Hypothesis 3 The quality of the environment perceived during urban renewal has a
negative effect on the quality of the environment expected after urban renewal. This
hypothesis reflects the contrast between the quality perceived during and the quality
expected after urban renewal.
Testing of the above hypotheses requires minimizing confounding from typical
background factors that affect both environmental quality evaluation and subjective
quality of life. These background factors include age, sex, education level, occupa-
tion, marital status, living arrangement, housing conditions, birthplace, organiza-
tional membership, and response patterns detected perceived during the survey.
Among them, age, sex, education level, employment status, class, household income,
ethnicity or immigrant status, and housing conditions (Ayalon, Ben-Rafael, &
Yogev, 1993; Harris, 2001; Lu, 1999, Parkes, Kearns, & Atkinson, 2002) each
makes a difference in the perception of environmental quality. Meanwhile, these
background factors are also responsible for subjective quality of life (Davis &
Davenport, 1999; Diez-Nicolas, 2002; Rampichini & D’Andrea, 1998; van Praag &
Ferrer-I-Carbonell, 2004). In addition, subjective quality of life varies according to
one’s marital status, living arrangement, and organizational membership (Grootaert
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Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality 227

& van Bastelaer, 2002; Louis & Zhao, 2002; Rampichini & D’Andrea, 1998). Only
the relationship that is net of the confounding bias is germane to the hypotheses.

1.3 Scope of generalization

The above hypotheses concerning the quality of the environment arising from urban
renewal and its impact on the resident’s subjective quality of life are at best
universally relevant to places undergoing urban renewal. Nevertheless, data for
testing the hypotheses only came from residents in seven urban renewal projects in
progress located in Hong Kong (a Special Administrative Region of China) during
2003 and 2004.
The similarities of urban renewal, housing development, urbanization, and
socioeconomic development of Hong Kong with other modern cities in the world are
notable in the emphasis on social impact assessment (Interorganizational Committee
on Guidelines and Principles for Social Impact Assessment, 1994; Planning and
Lands Bureau, 2001; Vanclay, 2000, 2003), liberal and simple housing and real
property law (Haila, 2000), and postindustrial and networked developments in
international finance and trade (Chiu & Lui, 2004). As Hong Kong is among the ten
most competitive cities in the world (Ho & Chan, 2003), it needs to maintain and
revitalize its urban areas to boost its development (Adams & Hastings, 2001). Urban
development, urban renewal, and the construction of housing and other infrastruc-
tures are essential means to drive economic development in Hong Kong. For
instance, the construction of the international airport in the 1990s was a strategy to
promote economic development and demonstrate government authority in the wake
of political uncertainty (Kwok, 1999). Real estate thereby marks the most vital
domestic business, which most typically accumulates capital for other local and
multinational investments (Haila, 2000). Along with economic development, sus-
taining social life during urban development is a salient policy reflected in the
emphasis on social impact assessment during urban development. Such assessment
aims at facilitating residents’ morale to engage in work, civic, and other social
activities (Planning and Lands Bureau, 2001). In all, Hong Kong is comparable to
such large international cities as Singapore, Shanghai, Rotterdam, Washington, New
York, Boston, and Chicago in terms of urban development (Priemus, 2004). The
developmental pattern of a single city like Hong Kong, similar with other interna-
tional cities, is worthwhile for research because of the significance of development of
autonomous cities (not national development) for the world economy (Baubock,
2003).

2 Methods

Data of the study came from a survey of 876 residents in housing surrounding seven
urban renewal sites in Hong Kong, during 2003 and 2004. These sites represented all
urban renewal projects entering the clearance phase, which proceeded under the
governance of the Urban Renewal Authority stipulated by law. The survey was in
the form of door-to-door, face-to-face interviews. It involved a multistage random
sampling procedure, which sampled housing blocks, floors, flats, and lastly household
members aged 16 or above to respond. Invitation letters for the survey were sent to
sampled households before and interviewers needed to visit the sampled households
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at least three times to complete interviews or default the sampled units. Sampled
household members had a right to refuse the survey or otherwise participated in
survey interviews with informed consent.
The average age of respondents in housing surrounding the urban renewal sites
was 44.4 years (see also Table 1). Most (54.8%) of the respondents were aged
between 30 and 50. Slightly more of the respondents were females than were males
(55.8% vs. 44.2%). On average, the respondent had been living for 18.8 years in the
neighborhood where urban renewal took place. Among the respondents, the
majority (52.9%) attained a secondary level of education and a substantial
proportion (23.8%) attained a postsecondary level. Most (44.0%) of them lived in
fully owned houses and slightly fewer (34.5%) lived in houses on mortgage. A rather
low proportion (13.0%) of the residents joined some organizations, such as churches,
trade unions, parties, and professional associations. About one third (37.5%) of the
residential households had monthly income below HK$6,000 (US$769), and another
one third (37.6%) had income between HK$6,000 to $24,999, and a quarter (24.9%)
had income above HK$24,999 (US$3,205).

2.1 Measurement

Essential measures arising from the cross-sectional survey were the perceived
environmental quality during urban renewal that was in progress during the survey,
expected environmental quality after urban renewal in future, subjective quality of
life at the time of the survey, and a number of background characteristics. A five-
point rating scale served to capture responses to items concerning subjective quality
of life and environmental quality. The scale yielded scores ranging from 0 to 100,
with 0 representing the lower level, 25 for the second level, 50 for the third level, 75
for the fourth level, and 100 for the highest level (Zagorski, 1999). Subjective quality
of life referred to a positive outlook about life. It adapted items from some existing
instruments (Andrews & Robinson, 1991; Sauer & Warland, 1982), comprising ‘‘not
worrying about the future,’’ ‘‘having no worry,’’ ‘‘life is satisfactory,’’ ‘‘life is
relaxing,’’ and ‘‘having enough friends.’’ The respondent rated the degree of each of
the items from ‘‘very little’’ to ‘‘very much.’’ Two of the items originally employed
negative phrasing and reversed coding was necessary to align the scores. The reli-
ability (a) of the composite score was .643. Reliability was not substantially different
among respondents with primary or below, secondary, and postsecondary levels of
education for subjective quality of life (a = .684, .650, .597)
Environmental quality tapped the quality of atmosphere, noise, land use, open
areas, greenery, sanitation, housing maintenance indoor and outdoor, sewage,
environmental safety, and overall (Fisher & Frendenburg, 2004; Riad & Norris,
1992). It applied to both the measurements of the quality experienced during and
expected after urban renewal. The respondent indicated how good the quality was
on a five-point scale, from ‘‘very poor’’ to ‘‘very good.’’ The reliability (a) of the
11-item composite score was .890 for the former and .886 for the latter. Reliability
did not noticeably vary among respondents with primary or below, secondary, and
postsecondary levels of education for environmental quality perceived during
renewal (a = .821, .807, .844) and expected after renewal (a = .873, .892, .898).
Hence, education level made very little difference in measurement error concerning
the perception and expectation of environmental quality.

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 Table 1 Means by project (projects A to G) (N = 876)

Variable A B C D E F G
n = 274 n = 34 n = 38 n = 252 n = 186 n = 29 n = 63

Subjective quality of life 54.6 58.6 63.9 52.2 49.0 60.1 57.2
Environmental quality expected after renewal 57.3 59.6 54.9 59.0 59.4 58.6 58.5
Environmental quality perceived during renewal 38.2 41.7 36.2 29.7 29.9 24.7 42.1
Household members (age below 65) 2.9 3.4 2.8 2.8 3.5 3.5 2.4
Older members (aged 65+) .4 .4 .6 .6 .9 .6 .9
Age (years) 41.0 42.5 47.0 45.1 46.3 43.2 50.5
Duration of residence in the neighborhood (years) 16.4 18.4 29.2 17.5 21.8 23.0 18.0
Duration of residence in Hong Kong (years) 35.0 31.7 41.9 32.3 35.8 30.9 30.9
Born in Hong Kong 74.0 63.6 71.1 50.6 55.9 31.0 20.6
Born in Mainland China 24.9 30.3 26.3 38.2 41.4 69.0 60.3
Education level (1~8) 4.1 3.2 4.1 3.7 3.4 3.4 3.8
Living in a flat 99.2 79.4 100.0 93.3 93.7 100.0 53.3
Living in a room .8 20.6 .0 .8 3.4 .0 43.3
Middle class occupation 42.0 25.0 25.7 34.8 24.5 18.5 9.4
Working class occupation 21.0 15.6 17.1 16.4 15.5 29.6 .0
Student 15.3 15.0 10.0 8.9 14.0 21.4 3.4
Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality

Unemployed 11.1 15.0 10.0 6.9 2.2 .0 6.9

Retired 40.3 30.0 50.0 41.6 46.2 42.9 58.6
Homemaking 33.3 40.0 30.0 42.6 37.6 35.7 31.0
Household income (1~12) 7.8 5.3 7.7 7.4 6.1 7.3 6.1
Home on mortgage 59.4 26.5 21.1 19.2 31.0 27.6 14.3
Home bought 30.1 73.5 71.1 38.3 50.5 62.1 65.1
229

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 Table 1 continued
230

Variable A B C D E F G
n = 274 n = 34 n = 38 n = 252 n = 186 n = 29 n = 63

123
Home rented 9.0 .0 7.9 33.8 15.2 10.3 15.9
Never married 18.6 28.1 26.3 32.5 22.8 29.6 16.4
Divorced 27.4 53.1 21.1 32.1 24.5 14.8 29.5
Widowed 27.0 15.6 15.8 25.6 9.2 22.2 16.4
Married 27.0 3.1 36.8 9.8 43.5 33.3 37.7
Organization membership 13.1 11.8 10.5 8.1 13.4 20.7 28.6
Female 54.0 70.6 47.4 57.0 58.6 58.6 46.0
Size: project area (sq. m2) 2200 1890 386 8900 3511 1236 250

The levels of education were (1) below primary, (2) primary, (3) junior high, (4) senior high up to Grade 11, (5) matriculation, (6) non-degree postsecondary, (7)
bachelor’s degree, and (8) graduate school
The levels of household income ranged from (1) below HK$2,000 to (12) HK$60,000 or above
Middle-class occupations were professional, associate professional, managerial, supervisory, clerical, and disciplinary (e.g., police, customs officers) occupations
Working class occupations were all other lower rank occupations
Subjective quality of life and environmental quality ranged from 0 to 100
All other characteristics were dichotomous or dummy variables, with a score of 0 for ‘‘no,’’ and a score of 100 for ‘‘yes’’
C.-K. Cheung, K.-K. Leung
Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality 231

Measures of subjective quality of life and environmental quality perceived during

and expected after urban renewal demonstrated convergent and discriminant
validity in a confirmatory factor analysis via LISREL (Cole, 1987; Joreskog &
Sorbom, 1993). The analysis specified a three factor models with items distinctly
loading on the three factors. Convergent validity manifested in the substantial
loadings estimated for the three-factor model and discriminant validity held when
the items loaded only on their respective factors (see Table 2). Discriminant validity
was also transparent in the weak correlations among the three factors (r = .273, .267,
.151). All the validity received endorsement from the overall goodness of fit of the
model (L2(287) = 697, RMSEA = .041, RMR = .045, GFI = .940, CFI = .958).
Accordingly, it achieved a low root-mean-square of error approximation (RMSEA)
and root-mean-squared residual (RMR) and a rather high Goodness-of-Fit Index
(GFI) and Comparative Fit Index (CFI) (Hu & Bentler, 1999).
Improvement in environmental quality emerged from the subtraction of
environmental quality perceived during urban renewal from the respective quality
expected after urban renewal. It was useful for testing effects predicated on the
comparison model.

Table 2 Confirmatory factor loadings

Subjective Environmental Environmental

quality of life quality during quality after
renewal renewal

Subjective quality of life

Not worrying about the future .379 – –
Having no worry .395 – –
Life is satisfactory .644 – –
Life is relaxing .626 – –
Having enough friend .429 – –
Environmental quality perceived during renewal
Air quality – .608 –
Quality concerning noise – .563 –
Land use quality – .617 –
Quality concerning space – .572 –
Quality concerning greenery – .632 –
Quality concerning sanitation – .659 –
Quality concerning housing maintenance – .616 –
Quality concerning outdoor maintenance – .645 –
Quality concerning sewage – .680 –
Quality concerning safety – .637 –
Quality concerning residential environments – .733 –
Environmental quality expected after renewal
Air quality – – .554
Quality concerning noise – – .513
Land use quality – – .646
Quality concerning space – – .639
Quality concerning greenery – – .655
Quality concerning sanitation – – .678
Quality concerning housing maintenance – – .590
Quality concerning outdoor maintenance – – .640
Quality concerning sewage – – .668
Quality concerning safety – – .592
Quality concerning residential environments – – .684

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2.2 Analytic procedure

Linear regression analysis based on a mixed-effect model was necessary to handle

data clustered by the seven urban renewal projects (Hedeker, Gibbons, & Flay,
1994). Specifically, it estimated a variance component (or variation) due to the seven
projects. This estimation overcame the issue of heteroskedasticity arising from
variation among the projects. In the connection, the projects possibly introduced a
random effect in addition to the fixed effects of various predictors included in the
model. The specification of the project effect as a random effect prevented the
project effect from overshadowing the fixed effects of various predictors. It recog-
nized that the effect of the project was random because of the absence of any
compelling reason to justify the effect. On the other hand, the omission of the
random project effect would lead to biased estimation and testing because of
heteroskedasticity.
For the ease of interpretation, the analysis employed standard scores of variables
to identify standardized effects. The use of standard scores also offered the advan-
tage of avoiding the problem of multicollinearity involving interactive or product
variables and their constituents (Aiken & West, 1991).
Two models of regression analysis served to test the hypotheses in alternative
ways. The first model held environmental quality perceived during renewal and ex-
pected after renewal and other factors as predictors, whereas the second model en-
tered improvement in environmental quality and perceived environmental quality
during renewal, together with other factors as predictors. Whereas the first model was
suitable for testing Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2, the second model was useful
testing Hypotheses 2. According to the comparison model specified in Hypothesis 2,
quality improvement needed to show a positive effect and quality perceived during
urban renewal would have no effect. On the other hand, the retrospective expectation
model suggested that environmental quality improvement had no effect whereas
environmental quality perceived during urban renewal displayed a positive effect.
Because improvement was the difference between expected environmental quality
after renewal and environmental quality perceived during renewal, the models in-
cluded either improvement (in Model 2) or environmental quality expected after
renewal (in Model 1). For clarity, the expressions of the two models are as follows:
Model 1: Subjective Quality of life = A linear function of
Environmental quality perceived during renewal
Environmental quality expected after renewal
Other background factors
Model 2: Subjective Quality of life = A linear function of
Environmental quality perceived during renewal
Improvement in environmental quality (i.e., Environmental quality expected after
renewal–Environmental quality perceived during renewal)
Other background factors

3 Results

On average, the resident’s subjective quality of life was at a modest level (M = 53.7),
indicating that there was room for improvement. The quality of the environment
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Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality 233

expected after urban renewal, on average, was higher than environmental quality
perceived during renewal (M = 58.3 vs. 33.9). It was significantly and substantially
higher (g = .811) than environmental quality experienced during urban renewal
(M = 42.1). As such, there would be dramatic improvement in environmental quality
from the progress to the completion of urban renewal.

3.1 Predicting subjective quality of life

Hypothesis 1 about the positive effect of environmental quality perceived during and
expected after urban renewal on subjective quality of life attains support from
findings of regression analysis (see Table 3). All these effects were in the order of .1,
which was weak but statistically significant.
The positive effects of environmental quality perceived during urban renewal on
subjective quality of life also lend no support to Hypothesis 2, which was an

Table 3 Standardized effects on subjective quality of life

Predictor 2 models
(1) b (2) b

Environmental quality expected after renewal .107* –

Environmental quality perceived during renewal .128* .244**
Environmental quality expected after renewal · Education level .033 .033
Environmental quality perceived during renewal · Education level –.074* –.071*
Improvement in environmental quality – .128**
Younger household members (age below 65) –.133* –.135*
Older members (aged 65+) –.094 –.094
Age –.064 –.074
Duration of residence in the neighborhood .038 .033
Duration of residence in Hong Kong .026 .033
Born in Hong Kong .090 .084
Born in Mainland China .035 .032
Education level .065 .067
Living in a flat .197* .194#
Living in a room .040 .047
Middle class occupation vs. homemaking .001 .000
Working class occupation vs. homemaking .039 .038
Student vs. homemaking –.065 –.068
Unemployed vs. homemaking –.154* –.152*
Retired vs. homemaking .112 .118
Household income .762 .766
Home on mortgage vs. others –.107 –.095
Home bought vs. others –.116 –.105
Home rented vs. others –.076 –.068
Never married vs. married –.050 –.050
Divorced vs. married –.074* –.074*
Widowed vs. married .029 .026
Organizations joined –1.019 –1.010
Female .010 .013
Project area –.279# –.285#
Variance component of individuals .900 .900
Variance component of projects .087 .087
R2 .100 .100

# p < .10; * p < .05; ** p < .01

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234 C.-K. Cheung, K.-K. Leung

antithesis to Hypothesis 1. There was no sign that environmental quality perceived

during urban renewal served as a reference point to highlight the contribution of
environmental quality expected after urban renewal (see Table 3). This finding
supports the retrospective expectation model and refutes the comparison model. A
more crucial test of the relative strength of the retrospective expectation and
comparison models examined the impact of improvement in environmental quality
(Model 2 in Table 3). The finding refuting the comparison model was the insignifi-
cant effect of improvement in environmental quality, whereas findings supportive of
the retrospective expectation model were the significant effects of environmental
quality perceived during urban renewal (b = .144 & .244). As such, the single sig-
nificant effect of improvement in environmental quality (b = .128) was not sufficient
to demonstrate the relative strength of the comparison model over the retrospective
expectation model.
Hypothesis 1.1 witnesses clear support from the significant negative interactive
effect involving education level and environmental quality perceived during renewal
on subjective quality of life (b = –.07, see Table 3). In view of the positive effect of
environmental quality perceived during renewal, this negative interactive effect
indicates that the influence of environmental quality perceived during renewal was
less positive when education was higher. Because the magnitude of the negative
interactive effect was more than half of that of the positive effect of environmental
quality, it shows that the environmental quality did not increase the subjective
quality of life of the resident with relatively high education. Conversely, environ-
mental quality perceived during urban renewal was more positive when the resi-
dent’s education was lower. Hence, one with low education benefited a lot from
environmental quality perceived during urban renewal. However, the moderating
effect of education level on environmental quality expected after renewal was not
significant.
Hypothesis 1.1 also attains complementary support from the absence of signifi-
cant effects on subjective quality of life involving alternative interactions:
between environmental quality perceived during urban renewal and household
income (b = –.025), homeownership (b = –.013), age (b = .059), female gender
(b = –.004); and between environmental quality expected after urban renewal and
household income (b = –.044), homeownership (b = –.006), and female gender
(b = .011). Only the interaction between environmental quality expected after urban
renewal and age (b = –.090) exhibited a significant effect on subjective quality of life.
This significant finding shows that the older resident’s subjective quality of life was
less responsive to environmental quality expected after urban renewal. Because the
older resident tended to have lower education (r = –.511), the similarly negative
interactive effects of age and education level would be due to different causes. In all,
the negative interactive effect of education level was not attributable to other social
status characteristics.
Other significant predictors of the resident’s subjective quality of life included the
number of household members, being unemployed, being divorced, the size of the
urban renewal area, and residence in a flat as opposed to a room or other structures.
The latter one showed a positive effect whereas the others manifested negative effects
on subjective quality of life. On the other hand, education level, other background
characteristics, and indicators of the method artifact had no significant effect on sub-
jective quality of life. Hence, education level per se did not contribute significantly to

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subjective quality of life. It was salutary only when environmental quality was poor.
This reflects the moderating effect of education level as a coping resource.

3.2 Predicting environmental quality

Hypothesis 3 about the negative effect of environmental quality perceived during

urban renewal on environmental quality expected after renewal is sustainable in
view of the findings (b = –.372 & –.233, see Table 4). The negative effects show a
clear discontinuity in environmental quality across different phases of urban
renewal. More than discontinuity, lower (higher) environmental quality perceived
during urban renewal was predictive of higher (lower) quality expected after urban
renewal. This reflects dramatic change in environmental quality through urban
renewal.
Lower environmental quality emerged from residents with working-class
occupations and divorce status. Other background characteristics, including housing
and other living conditions, did not exhibit significant effects on environmental

Table 4 Standardized effects on environmental quality

Predictor Environmental
After b During b

Environmental quality during renewal –.233*** –

Younger household members (age below 65) –.048 .040
Older members (aged 65+) –.040 .025
Age .043 .082
Duration of residence in the neighborhood .031 .041
Duration of residence in Hong Kong .017 –.096
Born in Hong Kong –.032 .055
Born in Mainland China .049 –.006
Education level –.021 .006
Living in a flat .001 –.072
Living in a room –.031 –.016
Middle class occupation vs. homemaking .014 –.045
Working class occupation vs. homemaking .049 –.069*
Student vs. homemaking .008 .032
Unemployed vs. homemaking .078 .105
Retired vs. homemaking –.024 .069
Household income .002 .386
Home on mortgage vs. others –.113 –.034
Home bought vs. others –.151 –.056
Home rented vs. others –.112 .018
Never married vs. married –.003 –.035
Divorced vs. married –.085** –.061*
Widowed vs. married –.033 –.045
Organizations joined –.899 –.344
Female .009 –.039
Project area .037 –.191
Variance component of individuals .514 .532
Variance component of projects .012 .084
R2 .486 .468

* p < .05; ** p < .01; ***p < .001

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236 C.-K. Cheung, K.-K. Leung

quality. Apparently, socioeconomic factors were primary antecedents to the resi-

dent’s exposure to housing and thereby environmental conditions.

4 Discussion

The study illustrates how the resident’s subjective quality of life is contingent on
environmental quality experienced perceived during and expected after urban
renewal, and how environmental quality evolves in the course of urban renewal.
Contributions of environmental quality tend to be compatible with livability theory
and its retrospective and prospective model in general. Besides, the experienced
environmental quality during urban renewal unlikely functions as a reference point
to highlight the effect due to environmental quality improvement. Notably, envi-
ronmental quality perceived during urban renewal is more salutary for the resident
with lower education and it is not salutary for the resident with high education.
Moreover, there is a discontinuity or even a reversal in environmental quality per-
ceived during and expected after urban renewal.
Findings thereby ascertain the contribution of environmental quality experienced
and expected from urban renewal on the resident’s subjective quality of life. When
combined, the contribution of the environmental quality is substantial (b = .235, based
on another regression analysis using a combined measure of environmental quality
perceived during and expected after renewal; results not shown in tables). Under-
pinning the contribution is equal importance in environmental quality perceived
during and expected after urban renewal. Apparently, environmental quality is
important as a livability condition in such a modern city of Hong Kong. On the other
hand, environmental and residential quality would not be paramount among middle-
class people active in social life (Bridge, 2003). This view is congruent with the finding
that the resident’s education level mitigates the contribution of environmental quality
perceived during urban renewal. On balance, the observation endorses the emphasis
on sustaining the quality of both natural and social resources in urban renewal (Kelly &
Becker, 2000). Moreover, both experienced and expected quality factors are salutary,
affirming the coverage of both retrospective and prospective evaluations (Funk &
Garcia-Monet, 1997; Huddy, Jones, & Chard, 2001).
The finding that the resident’s education level mitigated the effect of environ-
mental quality perceived during urban renewal but not the effect of environmental
quality expected after urban renewal indicates that education downplayed the rel-
evance of retrospective evaluation. This indication is consistent with findings and
expectations that retrospective evaluation is less relevant than prospective evalua-
tion to a rational actor (Kelly, 2003; Mizruchi, 1992; Rahrschneider, 1993), who is
likely to have attained higher education (Diez-Nicolas, 2002; Funk & Willits, 1987).
Conceivably, one with higher education learns more about not crying over spilt milk.
Subjective quality of life was also lower in the resident who lived near a larger urban
renewal area, lived in a flat, was unemployed, or divorced than were other residents.
The negative impact of the size (measured in sq. m2) of the urban renewal area reflects
the threat of the urban renewal other than impairment in environmental quality.
Accordingly, the larger the project area, the larger the threat and deterioration in
subjective quality of life would be. Besides, residents of lower socioeconomic status or
with fewer resources, as indicated by unemployment and divorce would be lower on
subjective quality of life (Graham & Pettinato, 2002; Hagerty, 2000).
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Retrospective and prospective evaluations of environmental quality 237

4.1 Further research

This study in Hong Kong requires further research with a larger scope in terms of
time and space. Because of the limitation of the present cross-sectional design,
further research needs to extend the time horizon and thereby incorporate a
longitudinal, prospective design to demonstrate the long-term change. This is
necessary because the study only taps the impacts with a cross-sectional design,
which does not reveal change over time. It is a probable reason why adaptation does
not appear to be a significant factor that dampens the impact of environmental
quality perceived during urban renewal. Conceivably, the impact of this quality
would decay with time, as the quality is only transitory. In terms of spatial scope,
further research needs to ascertain the differential impacts of contextual factors
arising from different cities. It requires collecting data from a diverse sample of cities
to test the generality and distinctiveness of quality impacts associated with urban
renewal. Contextual factors involved can be population density, land unavailability,
environmental sustainability, and economic inequality found to be distinct in Hong
Kong. They can affect the impacts of environmental quality based on the following
speculations.
The attenuating effect of education level on the sensitivity of environmental
quality requires further research to elucidate the generating mechanism. One
possible mechanism for the coping function of education level stems from its
increase in the individual’s cognitive complexity, which diversifies the individual’s
concerns (Cheung, 1998, 2000; Triandis, 1995). Put it simply, education prevents one
from putting all eggs into one basket. A further mechanism is that education erodes
the influence of environmental quality external to the person, as it augments
self-reliance and intrinsic motivation (Gallie et al., 1998; Ross & Mirowsky, 1992).
Specifically, education discounts the value of material consumption, as in breathing
and eating, and prizes spiritual gratification instead (Flouri & Buchanan, 2003;
Inglehart, 1997). These mechanisms remain speculative and thus require further
research for verification.

4.2 Implications

To sustain the subjective quality of life of residents exposed to urban renewal,

assuring environmental quality during and after urban renewal is clearly important.
Essentially, improvement in environmental quality alone is not enough to ensure the
promotion of subjective quality of life, as subjective quality of life is also susceptible
to the influence of environmental quality during urban renewal.
Advancement in environmental quality would not affect the subjective quality of
life of highly educated people. Conversely, the need for maintaining equity in the
impact of urban renewal (Vanclay, 2003) calls for attention to the greater vulnera-
bility of lower-educated residents to environmental stress. These residents would
require more measures to mitigate the adverse social impacts of urban renewal than
would higher-educated residents. One measure may be the preservation of diversity
in residents to divert their worry from environmental degradation during urban
renewal (Vanclay, 2003). Accordingly, residents have been enjoying diverse life-
styles, such as those relating to outdoor and social activities, before urban renewal
and expect to maintain such lifestyles after renewal. Renewal projects that create a
monolithic environment for residents would erode the diversity of lifestyle and land
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238 C.-K. Cheung, K.-K. Leung

use and thus residents’ perception of environmental quality and subjective quality of
life. For instance, conservation of land for wildlife and thus the tourist industry and
related jobs proves to mitigate the adverse impacts of development projects in a
developing country such as Namibia (Jacobsohn & Owen-Smith, 2003). Essentially,
just as conserving biodiversity in development projects to proliferate trees, grass-
land, and other lives sustains environmental quality (Donald, 2004), facilitating
diversity in various human activities can boost the quality of environments and
human life (Zukin, 1998). People’s desire for diversity has been increasingly visible
in the proliferation of lifestyles associated with identity building. The desire has
spawned urban redevelopment projects (under such a rubric as Smart Growth)
aimed at enhancing choice and diversity (Geller, 2003). Such mitigation measures
are preferably available to residents of lower education.

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