Causes of opposition to residential development: a survey-framing experiment from the Czech Republic

Abstract

ABSTRACT One of the reasons for rising real estate prices may be the opposition to new housing development. Using a survey-framing experiment, we examine the persuasiveness of five arguments against residential development on a representative sample of 1,801 inhabitants of Czech cities. In addition to traditional concerns about the risks of increased population density and changes in neighbourhood character, we examine perceived unfairness as an alternative argument. Our conclusions show that the perception of unfair activities of developers and rental investors plays an important role. Furthermore, among the traditional concerns, the short-term effects disrupting life in the vicinity of the construction site proved to be the strongest. If Czech developers change their strategy from selling apartments to renting them, as they plan, our findings indicate that public support for residential development projects could decrease even further. This is the first experimental study to examine the causes of NIMBY sentiment against residential development in a post-communist country. Our results are not fundamentally different from research conducted in the U.S. And that is despite very different institutional settings in the Czech Republic, which were negatively affected by forty years of totalitarian rule and the centrally planned economy.