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This paper introduces a behavioral framework to model residential relocation decision in island areas, at which the decision in question is influenced by the characteristics of island regions, policy variables related to accessibility measures, and housing prices at the proposed island area, as well as personal, household (HH), job, and latent characteristics of the decision makers.

The model framework corresponds to an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) setting where the discrete choice model includes latent variables that capture attitudes and perceptions of the decision makers. The latent variable model is composed of a group of structural equations describing the latent variables as a function of observable exogenous variables and a group of measurement equations, linking the latent variables to observable indicators.

An empirical study has been developed for the Greek Aegean island area. Data were collected from 900 HHs in Greece contacted via telephone. The HHs were presented hypothetical scenarios involving policy variables, where 2010 was the reference year. ICLV binary logit (BL) and mixed binary logit (MBL) relocation choice models were estimated sequentially. Findings suggest that MBL models are superior to BL models, while both the policy and the latent variables significantly affect the relocation decision and improve considerably the models' goodness of fit. Sample enumeration method is finally used to aggregate the results over the Greek population.

The pattern of racial segregation in U.S. elementary and secondary schools has changed significantly over the last 25 years. This chapter examines the relationship between the racial composition of schools and the choices white parents make concerning the schools their children attend. Restricted access files at the Bureau of the Census allow us to identify each household's Census block of residence and, in turn, suburban public school districts and urban public school attendance areas. We find that the racial composition of schools and neighborhoods are very important in the school and location decisions of white families.

The purpose of the present study is to explore the factors that influence the residential location choice of households in the Indian context.

Two sub-urban towns of Kolkata, i.e. Biddhanagar Municipal Corporation and Rajarhat Newtown, are taken as case studies. In total, 34 variables are considered related to the household's socioeconomic background (10), dwelling (3), travel (2) and level of importance of neighborhood characteristics (19). A revealed preference household survey is conducted, which resulted in the collection of 390 samples. Firstly, 19 level of importance variables are deduced to 3 latent factors using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. After that, a utility function is estimated using a multinomial logit regression to identify significant factors.

The results indicate the significance of car ownership, work travel time, work mode, monthly income, proximity to work, proximity to family/relative/friends, proximity to quality schools, quality of physical infrastructure such as water availability, power availability and housing typology among others in the residential location choice of households.

Kolkata, a major metropolitan area in eastern India, has been experiencing space constraints to cater to the housing demand of the ever-increasing population. Although satellite towns are being developed, the infrastructure landscape in such towns is uneven, resulting in more housing demand in one area than another. The study furnishes significant findings to develop more informed policies to attract households in low-demand areas and manage high-demand areas to achieve sustainable planning.

Considering the importance of geographical context, it is the first study on residential location choice, providing a perspective of household behavior from eastern India. It also shows the importance of physical infrastructure attributes in residential location choice for developing countries, which is seldom employed in the current practice. Moreover, previous studies (although few) done in India consider the objective value of location characteristics. The present study focuses on subjective value or the level of importance perceived by respondents.

Residential mobility is a dynamic urban process resulting from the ever changing internal and external factors of households' residential preferences. Factors effecting these preferences are related to households'perception of spatial issues such as the characteristics of a house, accessibility to urban functions and transportation, land values and house prices, neighborhood characteristics, residential satisfaction, and attachment. The effects of these issues vary through the life cycle as well as social, economic, and employment status of a household. As a result of the legal arrangements and state incentives that have helped to develop the construction industry, current housing patterns have shifted in Istanbul since the 2000s'. This study aims to investigate the changing trends in the factors that affected the residential location preferences of Istanbulites from 2006 to 2014. Data was collected through a stratified sampling method from two different surveys in 2006 and 2014. The paper explains the change in the destination choice of residents in the city at the district level and furthermore, changes in the households' intention to move to one of the three different housing patterns which are common in the city.

This research aims to analyse the housing demand in northern France with respect to socio-demographic variables and the distance between the residence and the workplace.

Econometrics with discrete choice models are used to study the three main dimensional choices of housing demand: tenure, type and location. A contribution is to use a heteroscedastic logit model where the variance of the error term is allowed to differ over alternatives and to capture in particular the heterogeneity of tastes. As a matter of fact, household characteristics are very likely to influence the magnitude of the scale parameter in the choice of housing alternatives and then influencing the results if it is not taken into account. Applications for housing demand are nearly non-existent. This paper fills this gap.

Econometric estimation confirms that residential choices are influenced by age, income and size of the household, as well as by the rent-to-income ratio. An increase in any of these variables decreases the probability of choices of all the alternatives other than the most often chosen alternative (which is for this application house ownership in the suburb). Moreover, the distance to work systematically influences the housing choice for single-parent families and two-earner households. Additionally, preferences are found to significantly differ between local housing markets, specifically between Lille (a large agglomeration and capital city of the North area) and Dunkerque (an industrialised area). The geographical areas are defined based on INSEE employment zones (“zones d’emplois”).

This research has been performed for the north of France and may not hold for other areas even though the methodology can be replicated and the mechanisms at play are quite similar elsewhere.

An important conclusion for sustainable development is the importance to improve city centre amenities relative to those of the suburb or to increase the services associated with high-density dwelling because clearly the most desired alternative remains a house in the suburb. The housing market in the Dunkerque area has some special features characterised by a strong industrial landscape (with port and heavy-duty industrial activities). In this context, amenities provided by the city centre offset the strong attraction of a house in the suburb.

This research shows that households with similar characteristics tend to prefer the same type of real estate property. Therefore, to avoid social segregation, it is important that housing supply respond to different household preferences and needs in the different segments of the housing market. Moreover, the housing supply should take into account the specificities of the geographical areas (both in terms of population who may have a different profile) and in terms of amenities.

This research is one of the very few conducted ones on discrete housing choices in France (with the notable exception of De Palma et al., 2007 for the choice of location). Three simultaneous choices are considered: tenure (including social housing which is almost always ignored), type of building and location. The authors have shown that it is important to take into account the heterogeneity of the preferences in the econometric model with a heteroscedastic logit model.

This article reports on the process of involving older people in one local authority in the construction of standards for residential care. It draws on data from questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. The findings suggest that involving a wide range of individuals in setting and reviewing local care standards is a necessity. A rationale for the exercise of individual choice emerged from the study, confirming that it is an important feature of acceptable residential care.

Preschoolers and their inter-generational parents are the main users of modern urban residential outdoor space. To design and build appropriate outdoor space, it is necessary to understand the two groups’ psychological and behavioral needs in depth. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

By means of literature reviews, field surveys, questionnaires, and interviews, this study addresses the psychological, behavioral, neighborhood conversation, and space use characteristics of preschoolers and their inter-generational parents in the residential quarters of Haidian District in Beijing. This paper investigates the safety, interests, micro-climate appropriateness, supporting accompanying behavior, and promoting neighborhood conversation as the design strategies for residential outdoor space.

The findings suggest that children’s wills are dominant in choosing activity space, while the duration of stay is decided by inter-generational parents; appropriateness for children’s use is the most significant indicator for evaluating satisfaction of outdoor space; safety is the first rule in outdoor space design; and the design of details in outdoor space and facilities needs to be strengthened.

Some preliminary conclusions have been concluded in this research while some deficiencies still exist. For example, quantitative research method and data processing method need to be deepened and studied continually in the following research; also, the research defines the investigation elements based on literature reading and individual field research, which remains to be verified and deepened in the future.

This research paid attention to usage experience in residential quarters so as to get rid of the pursuit of beauty in form in the planning and design strategies for residential quarters, proper care for youth and seniors, promote community vitality, enhance the shared living environment, and promote community association. This research can arouse the attention to children and the elderly in subsequent residential quarters and urban research. It is a very important field to study the behavior characteristics of children and the elderly and then study the urban space that is suitable for them.

Planning and design strategies for residential quarters should be explored from the perspectives of the correlated group of preschoolers and their inter-generational parents – the group of people who most frequently use residential outdoor space. This research paid attention to usage experience in residential quarters so as to get rid of the pursuit of beauty in form in the planning and design strategies for residential quarters, proper care for youth and seniors, promote community vitality, enhance the shared living environment, and promote community association. This research can arouse the attention to children and the elderly in subsequent residential quarters and urban research.

This research is of great significance, in caring the young and the old, building up communities’ vitality, enhancing living environment, and promoting community association, to explore planning and design strategies for residential quarters from the perspective of the correlated group of preschoolers and inter-generational parents and the group of people who uses the residential quarters’ space most frequently.

The purpose of this paper is to explore Singaporeans’ view to a multicultural neighbourhood, specifically, their views on the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), a housing policy that promotes residential desegregation, and whether this policy has engendered a positive perspective to residential diversity.

A grounded theory approach is used to answer the following research questions: how do Singaporeans feel about residential diversity? Does the EIP influence attitudes to residential segregation in Singapore? What do these attitudes mean for governments and policymakers around the world? The research involved focus group discussions with 27 Housing and Development Board real estate agents, in order to tap onto their vast network of clients and better understand the prevailing sentiments on the ground.

The two major considerations when Singaporeans choose a flat are its price and location. Within the confines of these two factors, however, other considerations like race, nationality and the socio-economic makeup of a neighbourhood will influence their decisions.

These considerations can be condensed into the factors of constrained choice and voluntary segregation. By limiting the impact of voluntary segregation, the EIP can be credited with bridging the racial divide. However, with constrained choice being unaddressed by the policy, the emerging formation of a class divide is an unintended consequence.

Because almost all developed economies are culturally plural, understanding Singapore’s approach to residential desegregation offers insights as to how other countries may learn from the Singapore experience in managing and encouraging multiculturalism, especially since ethnic residential concentration can reduce the formation of strong social relationships.

Chronic health conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes are higher in individuals with learning disabilities and significantly affect both quality of life and longevity. Healthy eating is an important factor in preventing these chronic conditions. The study reported here explored the role paid carers played in promoting healthy eating and how they managed the daily dilemma of balancing residents’ right to make unhealthy food choices against carers’ “duty of care”.

Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of six residential paid carers. Interviews were transcribed and then analysed using a thematic approach.

This small study highlights the challenges that staff face when balancing food choice against “duty of care”. It highlights that when working with less able residents, carers are motivated by “best interests”, to place boundaries and restrictions on food access and choice. It confirms previous studies that increased levels of choice for higher ability residents, often results in less healthy food choices. The study describes a lack of policy, guidance and specific training for paid carers which results in them using their personal subjective values as a basis for decision making.

Since the publication of “Valuing People” (Department of Health, 2001) the core principles of residential services changed direction towards independence and choice. This study expands our knowledge on how paid carers make sense of the everyday conflicts between choice and “duty of care” when residents continue to make unhealthy food choices affecting their physical health.