Perceived Contentment of Residents on Recreational Park as Shared Space

As tourism expands into urban areas, recreational parks are increasingly evolving into shared spaces where residents and tourists converge, creating spatial friction. This study examines local residents' perceived contentment at a botanical park in Malaysia across three dimensions; the natural environment, accessibility, and park facilities. Data were collected through an intercept survey of 118 adult resident visitors. Results indicated overall low resident contentment, recording a mean score of 2.95, and notable accessibility disruption with a mean score of 2.56. Pearson correlation analysis showed that perception toward park facilities had the strongest positive relationship with contentment at a coefficient of 0.394, followed by natural environment concerns at 0.301 and accessibility at 0.246. These findings demonstrate that resident discontentment stems primarily from infrastructure overload rather than tourist presence alone. Consequently, municipal authorities should implement adaptive spatial zoning, prioritize facility maintenance, and manage visitor flows to preserve local quality of life.

Recreational parks, residents' contentment, tourist-resident shared space, accessibility, park facilities.

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