Since the construction of Mapo Apartment Complex in 1962, apartment buildings have kept almost the same appearance as if their shapeless forms would not change forever. However, as all life forms in the planet have evolved, Korean houses have graduall...
Since the construction of Mapo Apartment Complex in 1962, apartment buildings have kept almost the same appearance as if their shapeless forms would not change forever. However, as all life forms in the planet have evolved, Korean houses have gradually changed without our knowledge, not only in their appearance but also in their underlying meaning and culture, reflecting societal change.
Today's residence type has been formed passively by the changes of society and system, not reflecting residents' needs for quality life. Both academia and industry have been trying to solve problems related to this trend through various research and development. It can be said that current residential forms are in the transitional period.
This study is conducted to present the rationale, based on this historical background, for why the needs of residents should be reflected on the future development of residence.
Houses provide a physical place for life, and they can be considered as one of the commodities traded in the market. Minimizing the difference between the amount residents willing to pay and the price suggested by suppliers, and improving both the quality of residential environment and the function of market can lead to improved residents' satisfaction as well as suppliers' more effective distribution of resources. In this study, a decision-making support model reflecting residents' preference will be developed to derive an empirical data applicable to residential development.
Evaluating the value of complex and various elements of residential environment can be limited. In previous studies, as methods of evaluating environmental value, the hedonic price model (HPM) as a simple quantitative analysis is used to estimate potential value of each factor, or a Likert scale of a qualitative analysis is used for statistical analysis. Because a house is closely related to human life, and it is a relatively big investment, establishing a reliable and objective system for evaluating the value of residential environment is imperative in order to use limited resources effectively. To overcome the limitations of previous research, this study is conducted as follows:
1. Quantitative Analysis : Value Analysis of Residential Environment Factors
In this study, residential environment factors are classified into indicator factors and planning factors, and the intrinsic value of each factor is analyzed as follows:
First, the analysis of indicator factors, which have various characteristics in a broad range, is done from an aspect of housing suppliers. Due to various types, these factors cannot be measured physically and cannot be compared in terms of relative sizes, so in stead of measuring microscopic value of each factor, factors with similar characteristics are grouped as one indicator, and the changing pattern and the relative ratio of indicators are compared.
Second, because the planning factors of residence are composed of price-characteristic factors that can affect price, the value of each factor is measured using HPM. As a result, 14 value factors are derived, and they are presented as a foundation for the analysis of residents.
2. Qualitative Analysis : Weight of Residential Environment Factors
Quantitative analysis estimates the intrinsic value of planning factors that are included in the currently new housing market, whereas qualitative analysis is to derive residents' preferential weight. The objective characteristics of housing is ultimately formed by resident's subjective attitude. Therefore, to understand the characteristics of a house, it is essential to investigate residents' subjective attitude toward the services provided by the house.
In this study, as a qualitative analysis, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to derive residents' more concrete and hierarchical weight. In addition, using AHP, useful results are derived not only from the weight of overall factors, but from the weight of each hierarchy.
From the analysis of indicator factors, factors of amenity and health are found to be important. From the analysis of planning factors, a location factor is found to be the most important economic factor, and among location factors, the distance from school and the accessibility of road and amenities are found to be the most important in the order mentioned. For architectural factors, south facing house, landscape, floor, and size are found to be important in the order stated. Among design factors, interior factor is found to be the most important. These results can be used as data applicable to decision making when distributing resources with similar characteristics.
3. Comparison of Quantitative Analysis & Qualitative Analysis
This comparison is a very important process. Due to intrinsic limitations of each analysis and the indices used for analyses, the results obtained from the two analyses are different. That is, when assuming that the results of an quantitative analysis are the relative implicit price, and the residents' weight by a qualitative analysis is the absolute implicit price, tow kinds of value have different meanings depending on measurement methods. Therefore, instead of interpreting the results only with one analysis, evaluating the value of residential environment factors by combining two analyses will lead to a more accurate interpretation.
As a result, the importance of economic factors, such as region, moving-in time, and brand name of residence, is found to be increased. For location factors, education and transportation still have important value, and the factor of a distance from amenities is found to have increased value. As architectural factors, the importance of landscape and the planning of apartment complex is found to be increased, and the value of the floor factor along with landscape is increased. On the contrary, the value of physical characteristics such as size, the number of households, and floor area ratio is found to be decreasing. This is because the characteristics determining house value are changing, from the factors determining house size in the past, to the factors determining the quality of residential environment.
Based on these results, it can be concluded that the residential environment factors determining value are gradually moving to environmental factors that can increase amenity.
4. The Meaning of Results and Their Applicability
When analyzing the value of residential environment factors, previous studies used only one analysis, either a quantitative analysis or qualitative analysis. However, in this study, by analyzing residents based on the results of a quantitative analysis, a value evaluation is done by a more diverse system, and this is suggested as a decision-making model. In addition, the analysis of the characteristics of Seoul city's new housing market, which is selected as a research model, is used for constructing a decision-making model. This is another accomplishment of this study. It can be said that Seoul city's new housing market represents the appearance of Korea's current houses, and the results of analysis will be applicable to future residential development.