Background and objective: Rapid urbanization in Vietnam has increased the prevalence of high-rise apartment living, making public space quality an important factor in shaping residents’ experiences and place attachment. This study investigates the effects of public space quality on residents’ place attachment in apartment complexes in Ho Chi Minh City.Methods: A quantitative research design was employed using a structured questionnaire survey administered to 300 residents living in two large apartment complexes, namely Vinhomes Grand Park and Westgate An Gia. Measurement scales were developed based on established literature and assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and exploratory factor analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of four dimensions of public space quality—comfort, safety, aesthetics, and utility—on residents’ place attachment.Results:The results show that all measurement scales demonstrate strong reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.869 to 0.921. The regression model explains 53.0% of the variance in place attachment (R² = 0.530, p < .001). Comfort was found to be the strongest predictor of place attachment (β = 0.309, p < .001), followed by aesthetics (β = 0.249, p < .001) and perceived safety (β = 0.185, p < .001). In contrast, utility did not exhibit a statistically significant effect (β = 0.055, p = .322), indicating that functional provision alone is insufficient to foster emotional attachment.Conclusion: The findings suggest that residents’ place attachment in high-rise apartment complexes is primarily shaped by experiential and perceptual qualities of public space rather than by functional attributes alone. Comfort, aesthetic quality, and perceived safety play decisive roles in strengthening emotional connections to residential environments. These results highlight the importance of human-centered public space design in promoting social sustainability and residential well-being in high-density urban contexts.
Tuyen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.