This study comparatively analyzed the demand attributes of prospective long-term residents and local inhabitants in island communities to identify practical strategies for increasing the living population. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine ...
This study comparatively analyzed the demand attributes of prospective long-term residents and local inhabitants in island communities to identify practical strategies for increasing the living population. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine prospective residents and eight island community members, and the data were analyzed through grounded theory-based stepwise coding and categorization. The findings revealed that while prospective residents expressed anticipation regarding natural landscapes and emotional restoration, the primary determinant of long-term stay was the possibility of autonomous income generation, with settlement infrastructure vulnerabilities, including healthcare, transportation, and communication, serving as key suppressing factors. Psychologically, other-directed and self-directed needs coexisted in a complex manner, with the majority of participants displaying mid-centric tendencies, simultaneously pursuing independence and a sense of belonging. Local residents were positioned between the euphoria and apathy stages of Doxey's Irridex model, regarding community norm compliance and voluntary participation as key acceptance criteria. Cross-group analysis identified healthcare and transportation deficiencies as a critical barrier commonly recognized by both groups, along with three structural tensions: asymmetry in role expectations, a perceptual divergence between the two groups regarding settlement infrastructure improvement, and divergence in trust formation pace. To bridge these gaps, infrastructure supplementation and coordination, relational mediation, and income-generating program linkage must be organically integrated within a unified framework, which was established as the core category of conditional residential viability grounded in multidimensional receptivity.