The study aims to contribute to the current panorama of instruments that qualify cities by presenting an approach of sustainable goals and indicators. Insight from inhabitants about their cities reveal dimensions and attributes not captured by official indicators. The focus of this study is to define appropriate indicators for sustainability and smartness of cities according to their citizens, considering the idiosyncrasies of local contexts and less notable dimensions pointed out in earlier studies. The scale is based on consolidated metrics, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the ISO 37120/2017, in association with the European Barometer and American Barometer. The CITYLIFESAT (City Life Satisfaction) scale was tested and validated in Southern Brazil through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and discriminant analysis. The results show that citizens' satisfaction is primarily linked to health and safety, well-being, recreation, public transport, walkability, social inclusion and participation, primary services, city attachment, and environment.

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Silva, M. B. C. D., Bebber, S., Fachinelli, A. C., Moschen, S. D. A., & Perini, R. D. L. (2019). City life satisfaction: a measurement for smart and sustainable cities from the citizens' perspective. International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 10(4), 338-383. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJKBD.2019.105126 

This work aims to explore the perceived accessibility of adapted toilets according to the user’s perspective, indicating the relevance of their attributes and features for persons with reduced mobility. There are recent studies addressing accessibility, but few focus on adapted toilets, making this study of adapted toilets in Brazil unique. A total of 98 disabled users with restricted mobility and carers took part in a survey after using adapted toilets. The study sample variance resulted in 27 attributes, distributed in eight factors: accessories, transit ability, access, hydro sanitary facilities, facilities, openings, safety, and ergonomic comfort. Multiple linear regression analysis was applied to identify attributes with impact on general satisfaction. The results identified three primary attributes in terms of design, execution and improvement of the user experience. Findings demonstrate a gap between the recommended standards and what the user perceives to be important, which has ramifications for the further development of standards and the design and construction of adapted toilets. The implication is that it is necessary to pay more attention to what the users need, and thus help to improve the users’ experience, satisfaction and wellbeing.

 

Marcelo Benetti Correa da Silva, Suane de Atayde Moschen, Brunella Cecatto & Fabiano Larentis (2022) Perceived attributes and dimensions of accessibility in adapted bathrooms, Building Research & Information, 50:1-2, 60-73, DOI: 10.1080/09613218.2021.1943643

Purpose
The aims of this study is to put on the agenda discussions concerning the approach of sustainable goals and indicators, in terms of how they relate to each other and how to list their importance within a network of contemporary city management. From the millennium objectives experience, UN has launched the continuity of the development program, through the sustainable development goals (SDG), which have the purpose of giving support to local and regional governments for the 2030 agenda in local sphere. In the city context, sustainable development has also been approached in regulations, like ISO 37120: 2017 “Sustainable development of communities: Indicators for city services and quality of life”. These instruments have in common the concern of offering parameters of public services to citizens and promoting in a uniform manner both social and economic growth of the urban environment.

Design/methodology/approach
The present study aims to compare these two sustainable development tools by means of a documentary analysis and to analyze the feasibility of the proposed indicators and their qualitative evaluation goals to improve citizens’ quality of life.

Findings
The results suggest that the main urban challenges are related to unplanned urban growth and poor-quality public services, which generate a lack of commitment to enforce laws and to achieve sustainable development goals.

Originality/value
The study establishes bases for guiding the discussion to support managers and investors decisions to promote paradigm changes in the citizens’ life and in the way cities are planned.

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Moschen, S.A., Macke, J., Bebber, S. and Benetti Correa da Silva, M. (2019), "Sustainable development of communities: ISO 37120 and UN goals", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 887-900. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-01-2019-0020

This research objective is to propose and test a theoretical model representing the relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential consumption. A survey with 395 Brazilian amateur runners was conducted, and the structural equation modeling technique was used for data analysis. The main results showed that life satisfaction and experiential consumption positively influence happiness, and minimalism influences experiential consumption in the sample studied. Furthermore, minimalism did not influence happiness. The proposed framework showed that life satisfaction and experiential consumption explain 54.2% of the happiness of leisure practitioners. Because people generally do not increase their happiness by choosing a simple lifestyle, they can decrease consumption by incentives other than happiness. Therefore, public policies aimed at raising awareness of the importance of reducing consumption should focus on other benefits, such as the benefits that can be gained from leisure and experiential consumption.

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Matte, J., Fachinelli, A.C., De Toni, D. et al. Relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential consumption. SN Soc Sci 1, 166 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-021-00191-w 

This research goal was to analyze the built environment dimensions, namely appearance, comfort, configuration, functionality, and the relationship with customer satisfaction, service quality, and product price at a winery in Brazil. A survey was applied to customers, and data analyses were performed using Exploratory Factor Analysis to identify the dimensions and related attributes, followed by Multiple Linear Regression statistical analysis to test the relationships among the dimensions. The findings demonstrate the positive and significant impact of functionality and configuration on service quality and customer satisfaction, whereas functionality positively impacted the product price.

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Marcelo Benetti Correa da Silva, Suelen Bebber, Gabriel Sperandio Milan, Thais Zimmermann Suzin, Helena Losekan Marcon, Deonir De Toni & Caroline Peccin Da Silva (2022) The Built Environment Dimensions Impact at a Winery, International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 23:5, 1055-1075, DOI: 10.1080/15256480.2021.1938783 

Service quality in a construction technology laboratory can result in an improvement in construction companies’ competitiveness. This research aims to evaluate the service quality provided by a construction technology laboratory, specifically in the segment of performing testing through the rupturing of concrete samples. For this research, a survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire that was created based on a literature review regarding the surveying of laboratory customers at a university in the south of Brazil. Our research was both exploratory and quantitative, and the data were analyzed by applying multivariate data analysis. The conclusions of this study show that the dimensions of quality services are: communication, reliability, responsiveness, credibility, and tangibility. These five dimensions together provide a high explained variance standard of 79.75%. Having a suitable number of attendants available to serve customers and presenting agility in the construction laboratory is one of the managerial research contributions. Moreover, through information availability, this research generates greater traceability that can be used both by customers and by institutional management. Constantly and thoroughly monitoring the customer service cycle is another relevant factor that can improve the quality of the services provided.

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da Silva, M. B. C., Graciola, A. P., Milan, G. S., Bebber, S., Moschen, S. D. A., & De Toni, D. (2019). Ensuring the service quality at a university construction technology laboratory in Brazil. Environmental Quality Management, 28(4), 75-84. https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.21636 

Purpose
This research goal was to analyze factors that may influence value-in-use and satisfaction perceived by university students, from the built environment, price fairness and teaching care.

Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, a survey was conducted with 900 students from a university in southern Brazil.

Findings
The main results proved that the antecedents considered in the study have a significant and positive influence on the value-in-use and satisfaction of university students. Furthermore, the built environment, price fairness, teaching care and satisfaction explained 87.8% of the value-in-use of students, while the built environment, price fairness and teaching care explained 74.9% of student satisfaction.

Originality/value
The study proved that after receiving the educational service, if the student can apply his or her acquired knowledge and skills, he or she will find a fair price, will be satisfied and will obtain value in the service purchased. Thus, even if the educational market is changing in recent years, the importance of the teacher and the built environment are factors that influence price fairness and increase the satisfaction and value-in-use perceived by the student.

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Benetti Corrêa da Silva, M., Matte, J., Bebber, S., Libardi, B. and Fachinelli, A.C. (2022), "Satisfaction and value-in-use perceived by university students from the influence of the built environment, price fairness and teaching care", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 365-381. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-12-2020-0628

Purpose
This study aims to test and analyze factors that may influence the satisfaction of university students, specifically, from the built environment, price fairness and teaching care.

Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted with 250 students from a university in southern Brazil. The data were analyzed by structural equation modeling.

Findings
The main results proved that the built environment, price fairness and teaching care have a significant and positive influence on the satisfaction of university students.

Practical implications
The factors presented explanation power for student satisfaction, which shows that they are essential aspects and, therefore, must be observed by universities to satisfy their students.

Originality/value
The study identifies the impact of factors such as the environment, price and teaching service on student satisfaction.

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Benetti Corrêa da Silva, M., Matte, J., Bebber, S., Dalla Santa de Carvalho, M., de Atayde Moschen, S. and Fachinelli, A.C. (2021), "Student satisfaction from the influence of the built environment, price fairness and teaching care: a study at a community-supported university", Facilities, Vol. 39 No. 11/12, pp. 703-721. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-09-2020-0112

Purpose
The raised competitiveness among technology companies, especially for being able to work with markets physically distant from their final consumer, makes it important to know the employee’s perception about the built environment since the physical workspaces influence productivity. This paper aims to analyze the attributes and dimensions of the built environment of a development software company that most impact the employee’s satisfaction through their perception. It allows the company to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the built environment, enhancing the employee’s satisfaction, productivity and, consequently, the company revenues.

Design/methodology/approach
This research applied a survey by the drop off method and analyzed data through confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regression. Therefore, these methods explain how the attributes behave in each theoretical dimension and evaluate the relation between the dependent and independent dimensions.

Findings
The theoretical result of this research concerns the employee’s satisfaction with the built environment of a software development company. Overall, employee satisfaction is related to the dimensions of functionality, appearance and personal relationships, not being significant aspects of configuration. On the other hand, the employee’s overall satisfaction with the built environment is related to the functional dimension.

Research limitations/implications
This research limitation is related to the size of the sample, which is a pre-determined and fixed population: all the company’s employees.

Originality/value
Perceived quality applied to a work environment of a software development company.

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da Silva, M.B.C., Valente, M.G., Petroli, A., Notari, D.L., Bebber, S. and Fachinelli, A.C. (2021), "Employee satisfaction with the built environment of a software development company", Facilities, Vol. 39 No. 7/8, pp. 538-552. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-08-2020-0103

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi o de comparar as dimensões da qualidade do serviço de um laboratório de tecnologia de materiais de construção civil a partir da perspectiva dos clientes de serviços de corpo de prova de concreto e rompimento de tijolos cerâmicos. Foram realizadas múltiplas análises de regressão a partir dos resultados das dimensões de qualidade mais importantes resultantes da percepção dos clientes, obtidas a partir de quatro estudos anteriores, que aplicaram análise fatorial. Os valores obtidos nas análises fatoriais e de regressão foram correlacionados com o objetivo de identificar resultados semelhantes nas análises. Os resultados apontam que os atributos relacionados com o atendimento personalizado, informação sobre os resultados do ensaio, bem como o comprometimento dos funcionários, são considerados os mais importantes na percepção dos clientes. Assim, foi possível identificar fragilidades no serviço realizado e propor melhorias e, desta forma, maximizar a satisfação do cliente. Como limitação do estudo, é apontado o tamanho da amostra, que poderia ter influenciado os resultados encontrados, influenciando também os procedimentos metodológicos nas análises de regressão.

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Bebber, S., Correa da Silva, M. B., da Silveira, T., & Sperandio Milan, G. (2021). SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF A CIVIL CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY IN BRAZIL. Exacta, 19(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.5585/exactaep.2021.14746

This paper pursued to evaluate the residents' evaluation on the smart sustainable city and the sense of community. The study analyzed interviews with 392 citizens from five neighboring cities from a micro-region in southern Brazil. Factorial analysis and linear regression were applied. The investigation recognized three factors for smart sustainable cities evaluation: public services and facilities; material well-being, and environmental well-being. Linear regression reveals that residents' satisfaction with the city is predicated on the material well-being, public services and facilities, environmental well-being, and sense of community, which explain 40.2% of satisfaction with the city. Considering a smart sustainable city viewpoint, the study accomplishes that: (i) policies should be projected from the neighborhood standpoint, due to the facility of understanding shared values (ii) sense of community should be included in policies for smart sustainable city; (iii) the design of neighborhoods and cities should prioritize social interactions, with the view to build social capital and facilitate policies implementation. By integrating the smartness to sustainability approaches in the city context, this study intends to contribute to a major discussion on sustainable development, with special attention to residents' evaluation. Finally, the paper offers pertinent outcomes for urban planners and social researchers, by finding factors that influence the sense of community and residents’ evaluation on their city and by offering elements for academic, political and debates.

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Macke, J., Sarate, J. A. R., & de Atayde Moschen, S. (2019). Smart sustainable cities evaluation and sense of community. Journal of Cleaner production, 239, 118103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.118103 

The intent of this research is to investigate how the customers of a technological control laboratory for civil construction materials perceived the quality of the services delivered by the lab, specifically in regard to the service of concrete compression testing. The popular SERVQUAL scale, a multidimensional instrument used to capture customer expectations and perceptions, was used as a model for the application of a survey. Exploratory factor analyses were employed to evaluate customers’ perceptions and experiences of service quality in regard to the dimensions and accompanying attributes of the SERVQUAL scale. Twenty attributes, which were grouped within five dimensions (Reliability, Assurance, Tangibles, Responsiveness, and Empathy), were identified, explaining 80.417% of the variance between customer expectations and perceptions and characterizing these dimensions on a modified SERVQUAL scale. Analysis of the results allowed us to identify discrepancies in perceived service quality compared with customers’ expectations. Most of the identified gaps between expectations and perceptions resulted in negative values.

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Suélen Bebber, Marcelo Benetti Correa Da Silva, Taila Da Silveira, Gabriel Sperandio Milan, Service quality dimensions in the context of a civil construction technology laboratory in Brazil, Exacta, 10.5585/exactaep.2021.14746, Volume 19, Issue 3, (641-658), (2021). 

Purpose
Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) demonstrates relevance nowadays. Because of the wide competition between construction companies, it is necessary to be assertive, so satisfied clients bring new clients through communication amongst the users. This paper aims to assist a construction company, evaluating apartment owner’s perceptions regarding the built environment, the perceived quality of services, the satisfaction and the value in use, in the context of multifamily buildings.

Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents quantitative research of POE, applying confirmatory factor analysis and multiple linear regression. These methods analyse how the attributes behave in each theoretical dimension and evaluate the relationship between the dimensions of the built environment and services including customer satisfaction and value in use.

Findings
The results demonstrate that the constructs associated with management aspects such as service, cause higher levels of satisfaction and, therefore, higher value in use. The results become guidelines for constructors, supporting management and project decision-making.

Research limitations/implications
This study’s limitation is related to the number of questionnaires applied. The survey was applied to the apartment owners in all five buildings from a constructor, considered as the entire population of the research. For that reason, there were not used a sample. Further studies are required to improve the results, even more, using the present research in a larger sample, seeking a better generalisation. Also, future studies might evaluate other types of constructions and environments.

Originality/value
This paper used marketing constructs related to satisfaction, value in use and service, applied in the construction field of multifamily residential buildings.

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Da Silva, M.B.C., Giacometti Valente, M., Petroli, A., Detoni, D. and Milan, G.S. (2020), "Perceived quality of built environment, service, satisfaction and value in use, in the context of residential buildings", Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 451-468. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-05-2020-0032