Beyond stated and revealed preferences: the relationship between residential preferences and housing choices in the urban region of Turku, Finland

Abstract

The deconcentration of urban population is a widespread phenomenon in Western societies. Whatever the reasons for residential deconcentration, an inevitable consequence is that an increasing number of people will choose to reside on the outskirts of urban regions. In this paper, the relationship between residential preferences and housing choices is examined using questionnaire data from 1,137 residents of the Turku urban region. This study examines how congruent their stated and revealed residential preferences are in the urban region and to what extent residential preferences affect residential mobility within the urban region. The results show that the stated residential preferences of the respondents correspond closely with their housing choices but the relation of residential preferences to changing population distribution is not straightforward. Although preference for low-density housing is the most important factor describing population decentralisation, the population flow towards the central city is predominantly determined by demographic factors. The results emphasise the latent nature of residential preferences, as the preferred residential environment does not necessarily correspond with the chosen housing. The results stress the importance of gaining thorough knowledge of the subjective values given to housing in order to understand what aspects of housing are important for people and what kind of influence residential preferences actually have on housing choices.