The Quality of Neighbourhood Facilities and Their Effect on Social Trust in Salak Selatan New Village, Kuala Lumpur

This study investigated neighbourhood amenities as socio-spatial settings within which relationships of trust are built through the passage of daily activities. It examined the effect of satisfaction towards neighbourhood facilities on social trust in one of Malaysia’s urban villages: Salak South New Village in Kuala Lumpur. Data from 335 survey respondents were analysed using the MANOVA method to determine the influence of neighbourhood facilities satisfaction on social trust. To achieve the aim of this study, five independent variables (IVs) of satisfaction with provided selected neighbourhood facilities were considered: basic utilities, commercial facilities, health facilities, police service and public transport, while two dependent variables (DV) of communal trust and leadership trust were identified that constitute social trust. The findings reveal that satisfaction towards neighbourhood facilities significantly influenced social trust among the respondents. Multivariate analysis showed commercial facilities as the most influential in determining social trust, followed by public transport, health facilities, basic utilities, and finally police service. Therefore, improving neighbourhood facilities and amenities will enhance the satisfaction of residents and accordingly increase social trust. In other words, unmaintained and underdeveloped facilities lessen social trust in a community via resident dissatisfaction. This necessitates engagement of stakeholders including urban planners, local authorities and the residents themselves in the planning process and village development to ensure that the residents will be satisfied with changes for better neighbourhood facilities and social trust is sustained.