Abstract
The present paper attempts to fill a part of the gap in the studies on residential location choices and their relations to urban mobility, socio-economics, and the built environment by presenting the results of a study on Alexandria, Egypt, by analysing the results of a survey in eight neighbourhoods undertaken in 2015. Four questions were answered in this study: (i) “How are the main drivers behind residential location choices in Alexandria connected to various socio-demographic groups or people with different availability to urban and built environments?”, (ii) “How are the main residential self-selections in Alexandria associated with one another and which are the most important?”, (iii) “How are the housing location-related decisions of Egyptians similar to or different from international decisions?”, and (iv) “How can planners and decision-makers use the knowledge produced by this study for urban planning and housing in Egypt?”. Library work and the results of a Χ2 test of independence show that availability of transportation modes, nice neighbourhoods, and affordability are the strongest motives behind decisions. However, socio-economic factors are generally stronger than urban mobility and spatial issues. These findings are partly different from those of high-income countries.
Highlights
The topic of residential self-selection and location choices has been widely studied within the context of the developed world
Apart from a very few studies on the topic emerging from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, it is difficult to find similar studies offering insights for better conceptual understanding of the topic
The studies from the high-income countries mainly report on the factors determining the peoples’ housing choices as proximity to social contacts and networks;, school quality (Guidon et al 2019);, mobility, travel attitude, and built environment (Zang et al 2019; Heinen et al 2018; Ettema and Nieuwenhuis 2017; Scheiner 2014; Boone-Heinonen et al 2010; Cao et al 2009; Cao 2014; Næss 2009);, accessibility to jobs and services (Baraklianos et al 2018; Hu and Wang 2019);, and affordability and neighbourhood quality, including school quality (Lee and Waddell 2010; Bayoh et al 2006). Such studies reporting on the factors of housing location choices in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are very limited
Summary
The topic of residential self-selection and location choices has been widely studied within the context of the developed world. Other studies on the topic within the context of the developing world have reported more or less similar findings by concluding socio-economic factors and neighbourhood conditions (De and Vupru 2017; Ubani et al 2017; Poku-Boansi and Adarkwa 2016), spatial factors (Digambar et al 2010), accessibility and travel attitudes (Cao and Yang 2017; Wang and Lin 2014; Jiao and Harata 2007), security and affordability (Ubani et al 2017), religious factors (Sinniah et al 2016), and comfort and convenience (Wang et al 2016), as the main factors for housing location choices These literature findings suggest the importance of contextual setting for addressing variations in the results across the globe and provide a rationale of having a deep inquiry into the subject for a better understanding
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