Tenants’ residential mobility in Switzerland: the role of housing functions

Abstract

The interaction between residential preferences and dwellings is a complex system whose function thus far remains insufficiently explored. In this paper, we investigate housing functions as orchestrators of households’ residential mobility in the context of Swiss rental housing. We propose a theoretical multi-step model and use survey data from 878 Swiss tenants to inspect the model’s linkages. From the statistical analysis, we firstly observe that tenants’ residential satisfaction is more likely to increase when the gap between ideal housing functions and those actually fulfilled by the current dwelling decreases. Secondly, results show that the effectiveness of an event (e.g. a job opportunity) in triggering the move is significantly related to both residential satisfaction and the functions the dwelling fulfils prior to the trigger. Thirdly, findings show that these trigger events can be grouped into three types: radical change, problem-solving and opportunity. With a medium effect size, a radical change was found to bring about the strongest change in housing functions between past and current dwellings. Lastly, in line with the hypothesis that residential preferences vary over the life course, socio-demographic characteristics and tenancy types are found to be significant explanatory variables for households’ ideal housing functions. By disentangling the complexity of the housing system, the proposed multi-step model can be used to integrate households’ preferences with supply-side constraints in agent-based model simulations, thereby contributing to fostering the provision of quality housing, i.e. dwellings able to meet the needs of current and future occupants.

How the first wave of COVID-19 in Switzerland affected residential preferences

“…In this exceptional setting, we observe that a change in ideal housing functions had occurred for the majority of the sample (60%), thereby corroborating previous studies that have shown how certain 'triggers' -e.g. a divorce, the birth of a child -can bring about a change in residential preferences (Brown and Moore 1970, Mulder and Hooimeijer 1999, Pagani and Binder 2021, Pagani et al 2021b).…”

Redefining energy vulnerability, considering the future

“…An analysis of physical capital offers another dimension by which to assess energy vulnerability. There is a need to improve housing quality in Switzerland (Pagani et al, 2021), recognized in the national Energy Strategy 2050 which now provides tax incentives for building renovation (SFOE, 2021a) with a targeted reduction of 43% in energy consumption by 2,035 compared to 2000 levels (SFOE, 2021b). In all, of the approximately 1.5 million buildings in Switzerland, over 75% were built before 1980 and renovation is required for many of these (Frank, 2005).…”

Advanced modeling of housing locations in the city of Tehran using machine learning and data mining techniques

“…In this process, the role of the economic challenge is more significant than that of social and environmental variables (Li, 2021). Since housing is closely tied to the identity of people (Naghizadeh, 2017), serving as a critical factor in securing citizenship rights (Zarghamifard, 2019), how urban living spaces are located and identified and at the same time accounting for quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the housing are among crucial issues in ecological research concerned with the urban system (Pilehvar, 2022), which provides more significant insights into complex human-environment interactions in the housing system (Pagani, 2021). In light of this trend, the cognition, and analysis of housing dimension with quantitative and qualitative variables on the one hand and the analysis of factors affecting the location and placement, on the other hand, is of paramount importance.…”