Housing Choice and Preference: Theory and Measurement

AbstractPreferences and choices in a society are constant dynamic operations, based upon the behavioral dynamism of people. Housing preferences and choices operate within the framework of preferences and choices for housing attributes. There are underlying motivations that make it possible for an individual to choose from available alternatives within a given product field. This paper examines and outlines the methodological and theoretical framework of housing preferences and choices, based on the theory of means-end chain (MEC). In dealing with user preference of housing, there is a need for research for a development of a technological tool for the identification of user needs and preference

Place attachment and determinants of living arrangement in the family house in Ibadan, Nigeria

Context/Background: There is a dearth of study in identifying the determinants of choice of living arrangement in sub-Saharan Africa and what influences individual’s decision about this. Therefore, this study examined the physical aspects and demographic characteristics that may be significant predictors of attachment to a particularly form of living arrangement in the form of “family house” otherwise called agbo’le.Data source and Methods: The analysis was based on quantitative data from 413 household heads in a traditional neighborhood characterized mainly by agbo’les in Ibadan, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, chi-square, regression analysis and correlation were used to analyse the data.  Results: The results showed that demographic factors including education attained, occupation and nature of work were significant predictors of place attachment rather than the physical structure.Conclusion: The study concluded that the relevance of agbo’le to the lives of the residents and hence its future potentials are more influenced by characteristics of individual residents.

Identifying the Different Aesthetic Quality of Building Attributes From Architects Perspective

It seems that many designers do not know, from a non-designer viewpoint, what a pleasant building looks like. If designers are ever to have more pleasant buildings in the eyes of the majority of the residents who are not designers, this problem desires study and explanations which in this study the researcher tries to answer. Part of the solution lies in discovering the physical and cognitive property of the differences in aesthetic criteria in designers. The aim of the present study is to identify objective physical building cues that are connected to aesthetic quality in Architects and the designers of the buildings. The researcher used a quantitative questionnaire to find the values of each building attribute among architects. The results found that building attribute have different values among architects. Some physical cues are very important for architects and some are not so much important