Nearby Pockets for Promoting Students' Social Interaction on Malaysian Campus Ground

Recently, nearby pockets on campus ground have become an important tool to improve academic outcomes by enhancing students’ social-learning activities. However, nearby open spaces and pocket parks of Malaysian universities lack the promotion of social interaction and informal activities that affect the academic experience, especially in the outdoor spaces. Therefore, there is a need to enhance students' social interaction on campus ground in Malaysian universities. This study aims to understand the preferred attributes of nearby pocket parks in Malaysian universities to predict students’ social interaction. This study employed a visual preference survey (VPS) conducted in three Malaysian universities, including Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), to assess the visual preferences of 415 students toward six pocket parks photographs. Multiple regression analysis was used to predict the relationship between students' social interaction and preferred pocket parks. The results indicate that students preferred pockets that provide variety in softscape and activities as well as offer proper hardscape and shade to enhance their social interaction. The results also show that students from different ethnicities, education status and universities have different social interaction levels on Malaysian campus grounds. The current study contributes to integrating nearby pocket parks in outdoor social interaction to improve campus urban design and academic experience. Hence, the study's findings are of great importance for policymakers, architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and researchers in the field in creating sustainable-socially responsive campuses.