Housing environment preference of young consumers in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the demand pattern and housing preference of young consumers in Guangzhou, China. This study seeks to offer more information for urban planners and housing developers about housing demand from social and cultural perspective.Design/methodology/approachAssisted by a questionnaire survey, a housing environment preference pattern is generated by ranking quality attributes with respect to their relative importance to young consumers. The outcome is analysed by pair‐wise comparison of attributes based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP).FindingsIt is found that “public traffic network” (11.72 per cent), “proximity to workplace” (10.22 per cent), “sense of safety” (9.74 per cent), “medical and health facility” (8.54 per cent) and “education facility” (8.50 per cent) are the top five determinants in housing consumption of young consumers in Guangzhou.Research limitation/implicationThe database used is relatively small.Originality/valueThe housing environment has been well‐researched in developed countries, but not in Guangzhou, China. This is one of the few papers that looks at the housing physical and social environment preference for young consumers using an AHP framework.

Residential self-selection, built environment, and travel behavior in the Chinese context

“…Though housing reform has delinked the connection between work and residence, for many urban Chinese who previously took short commuting for granted, in combination with the low car-ownership rate and imbalanced urban spatial structure, the distance between workplace and residential location is no doubt an important consideration, and proximity between the two would be much favored. Wu et al (2013) and Wu (2009) provide empirical evidence to support this argument. With data from a survey of 3481 households in Beijing in 2009, Wu et al (2013) found that households are more likely to choose to reside in those neighborhoods with high job accessibility and short commuting time.…”

“…With data from a survey of 3481 households in Beijing in 2009, Wu et al (2013) found that households are more likely to choose to reside in those neighborhoods with high job accessibility and short commuting time. In a study of young housing consumers in Guangzhou, Wu (2009) reveals that proximity to workplace is the second most important determinant of housing choice, after access to a public transport network. Empirical evidence from western cities seems to suggest that accessibility issues such as distance to workplace are not necessarily an important factor influencing people's residential choice (Kim and Morrow-Jones 2005;Morrow-Jones and Kim 2009).…”

Provision of fitting-out as a response to the presence of heterogeneous homebuyers: An empirical study

“…This explains the popularity of SP data in the housing preference literature. Examples include Bender, Din, Favarger, Hoesli, and Laakso (1997), Bender, Din, Hoesli, and Brocher (2000), Ge and Hokao (2006), Kauko (2006aKauko ( , 2006bKauko ( , 2007, Reed and Mills (2007), Walker and Li (2007), Wang and Li (2004), Wu (2010).…”

The Effect of Green Purchase Behavior and Housing Environment Preferences on Property Pricing Strategies

“…Wu conducted a study with the aim of understanding housing demand patterns and preferences of young consumers in Guangzhou, China [4]. In his research, Wu used the "Housing Environment" variable and involved several subvariables such as mobility, community facilities, and community social capital.…”

“…This will form the level of property demand that can affect the market price of the property. In Wu's [4] research, the existence of a housing environment preference factor has an influence on price formation. Wu [4] studies Housing Environment Preference by adopting dimensions and indicators which include: Mobility, Community facilities, Community social capital.…”