Housing Stock Characteristics Research Articles

Provision of Housing for Residents of the Far East: Statistical Analysis

Building on state statistics, the authors analyzed the situation with providing housing opportunities for residents of the Far Eastern Federal District (FEFD). The objective of the study is to define the housing stock characteristics of the macroregion. Based on the methods of statistical analysis applied by the authors, the following parameters of the FEFD housing stock are identified: differentiation of regions – constituent entities of the Russian Federation in terms of housing provision and housing improvement, the degree of housing satisfaction according toresident surveys, debt on housing loans and affordability of rental housing. The paper demonstrates differences in the positions of FEFD regions. The article concludes that additional funding of the FEFD regions through state programs since 2014 has not affected the growth of the FEFD housing stock, which in terms of specific indicators of housing provision, is below the Russian average (2018–2020). The authors argue that for several FEFD regions, there is a dire need to improve housing quality (this applies particularly to the Republic of Buryatia and the Trans-Baikal Territory).

The Geography of Absence: Cities, Towns, and Suburbs with No LIHTC Housing

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the largest affordable housing production program in the United States. The program has been the subject of some criticism because it has done an unimpressive job of placing low-income renter households in high-opportunity neighborhoods, especially in suburban jurisdictions. This research examines, at the municipal level, what kinds of communities do not contain LIHTC properties. Communities with no LIHTC properties are compared with places that include LITHC housing in terms of geographic, demographic, socioeconomic, and housing-stock characteristics. The analysis focuses on all municipalities in the US and those that grew in population and multifamily housing from 2010 to 2019. It finds that 72% of all municipalities, and 52% of all growing municipalities contain no LIHTC housing. A logit analysis of the factors that influence the likelihood that LIHTC housing is absent from a municipality finds that the most important predictors are population size, being a suburb in a large metropolitan area, and the percentage of rental and multifamily housing.

Analysis, evaluation and housing stock characteristics in Krasnoyarsk

Analysis, evaluation and housing stock characteristics in Krasnoyarsk

Spatio-Temporal Changes of Housing Features in Response to Urban Renewal Initiatives: The Case of Seoul

Over the past two decades, Seoul has been in a transitional period in terms of urban renewal approaches. Housing is a fundamental element of citizens’ lives and the built landscape, thus, it deserves thoughtful scrutiny. As such, this study empirically investigates the dynamics of the spatial and temporal characteristics of housing stock within the context of new urban renewal policies in Seoul. A fine-grained and multifaceted analysis shows that the supply of new apartments has decreased over time, revealing that denser housing redevelopment in the inner city has become more difficult. In addition, an exploratory spatial data analysis indicates that although spatial clustering of old housing units has been reduced, new housing units have become more spatially distributed and outwardly dispersed over time. Since the physical and locational changes of housing stock are closely related to urban renewal initiatives, this study suggests that the city government needs to incorporate the concept of sustainable urban growth management into its housing supply and renewal policies.

Why Black‐Majority Neighbourhoods Are The Epicentre Of Population Shrinkage In The American Rust Belt

AbstractDespite a clear association between the most African‐American neighbourhoods and overall population shrinkage in Rust Belt cities, few have explored the theoretical challenges that this poses. First, if racial prejudice is the key ingredient for this relationship, why would this result in overall population loss and not simply a reduction of White residents? Second, why if stigmatisation generates the pre‐conditions for in‐migration and investment – as the gentrification and urban ecologies literatures suggest – why would Black neighbourhoods not be the epicentre of population growth? This paper explores these questions through a theoretical synthesis of the residential choice, shrinking cities, and racial prejudice literatures. I rely on an intra‐city examination of neighbourhood change in Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. I argue that three factors in shrinking Rust Belt cities limit the application of more general neighbourhood change paradigms: (i) the persistence of racial prejudice; (ii) abundant housing supply; and (iii) housing stock characteristics.

Housing as a critical determinant of heat vulnerability and health

Municipalities use Heat Vulnerability Indices (HVIs) to quantify and map relative distribution of risks to human health in the event of a heatwave. These maps ostensibly allow public agencies to identify the highest-risk neighborhoods, and to concentrate emergency planning efforts and resources accordingly (e.g., to establish the locations of cooling centers). The method of constructing an HVI varies by municipality, but common inputs include demographic variables such as age and income – and to some extent, metrics such as land cover. However, taking demographic data as a proxy for heat vulnerability may provide an incomplete or inaccurate assessment of risk. A critical limitation in HVIs may be a lack of focus on housing characteristics and how they mediate indoor heat exposure. To provide an objective assessment of this limitation, we first reviewed HVIs in the literature and those published or commissioned by municipalities. We subsequently verified that most of these HVIs excluded housing factors. Next, to scope the potential consequences, we used physics-based simulations of housing prototypes (46,000 housing permutations per city) to estimate the variation in indoor heat exposure within high-vulnerability neighborhoods in Boston and Phoenix. The results show that by excluding building-level determinants of exposure, HVIs fail to capture important components of heat vulnerability. Moreover, we demonstrate how these maps currently overlook important nuances regarding the impact of building age and air conditioning functionality. Finally, we discuss the challenges of implementing housing stock characteristics in HVIs and propose methods for overcoming these challenges.

Country residential building stock electricity demand in future climate – Portuguese case study

The future residential energy demand is expected to be significantly affected by increasing electrification rates and climate change. This study uses a Monte Carlo-based approach and an ensemble of climate models to address potential changes in electricity demand in this sector. The whole Portuguese residential building stock in 2050 is used as a case study. It is performed a sensitivity analysis for the retrofitting and new construction, floor area of new buildings, electrification of domestic hot water and cooking and, finally, adoption of heat pumps for space heating and cooling. Results show a potential increase of 5 to 60% of the total electricity consumption in the sector. Space heating is expected to decrease by 33% while space cooling shows a possible 20-fold increase. The electrification of domestic hot water and the development of housing stock characteristics are the factors with the largest impact on the overall electricity consumption changes.

Municipal land allocations: a key for understanding tenure and social mix patterns in Stockholm

ABSTRACTA socially mixed population is a political ambition in Stockholm. By providing a mix of tenure alternatives throughout all neighbourhoods this objective could, at least partially, be fulfilled. Since current tenure proportions display a weak balance in many neighbourhoods it could be assumed that governing politicians – by primarily utilizing Stockholm’s vast landownership and municipal housing developers – attempt to bridge observed gaps. Distribution of new rental and ownership apartments in municipal land allocations should acknowledge the existing tenure composition in a neighbourhood. Methodically this article focuses on all (nearly 50,000) apartments channelled through Stockholm’s land allocation system between 2002 and 2012. After classification of all apartments based on tenure, location, year and developer (private or municipal) the information is merged with yearly housing stock characteristics for 128 neighbourhoods. The outcome is a unique data set allowing for statistical assessment of whether Stockholm’s tenure (and in extension social) mix ambition is reflected in practice. The present article aims to highlight the crucial importance of landownership in Swedish municipalities with an aspiration to achieve or maintain a balanced tenure mix. While the findings indicate Stockholm is complying fairly well with its ambition, the results do reveal some contradicting signs.

Enumerating informal housing: A field method for identifying secondary units

This study developed and tested an initial tool for the systematic observation of secondary units at the neighbourhood scale by utilizing an inventory checklist method inspired by studies in the fields of health geography and criminology. Single‐family dwellings with secondary units were found to have one or more of 18 visual characteristics as outlined in the proposed tool. In the neighbourhoods where the tool was applied it was found that, within the Canadian context, urban neighbourhoods contain a higher proportion and density of secondary units than newer, suburban areas. Indicators that emerged as most prevalent included more than one mailbox per dwelling, unit numbers on single‐family dwellings, more than one electric meter, and lawns converted for parking of multiple vehicles. Local and regional variations in housing stock characteristics and local housing markets make the standardization of such a tool problematic. However, this method does present a place‐based approach that provides a subtle means of understanding the unique attributes, and distribution, of this type of housing at a scale relevant to municipal planning decisions.

Income, energy expenditure and housing in Madrid: retrofitting policy implications

Fuel poverty can be defined as ‘the inability to afford adequate warmth in the home’ and it is the result of the combination of three factors: low household income, lack of energy efficiency and high energy bills. Within this context, the present research is aimed at characterizing, for the first time, the housing stock of fuel-poor households in the Autonomous Region of Madrid. Fuel poverty incidence was established and households were divided into six different groups according to their relative position regarding fuel and monetary poverty. The housing stock of each group is characterized and those households most in need are identified. These results enable energy retrofitting priorities to be established, focusing on the needs of the different household groups and accounting for their housing stock characteristics. This allows Spanish energy retrofitting policies to be assessed for their capability of tackling fuel poverty and makes it possible to suggest some improvements.

Non-transport household energy consumption in Adelaide and Melbourne

The residential sector is the third largest sector of final energy use in Australian urban areas, accounting for about 12% of the country's total final energy consumption. What are the main determinants of energy consumption in the residential sector? This paper sheds light on this question by examining non-transport summer household energy consumption in Adelaide and Melbourne. Data were collected from a survey of 200 sample households and modelled according to a conceptual framework that not only emphasises household characteristics and housing stock characteristics but also controls the macro-environment factors. The findings reveal distinctive results in Adelaide and Melbourne. In Adelaide, household characteristics are the most important contributors in explaining non-transport household energy consumption. In Melbourne, the household characteristic as represented by income is important, but housing stock characteristics provide even more explanatory power. These findings contribute to the understanding of the factors that shape residential energy consumption and have policy implications in targeting household energy savings.

European smart home market development: Public views on technical and economic aspects across the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy

Smart homes will enable the new services and capabilities offered via smart grids and smart cities to be realized by householders. Yet, whilst there is a wealth of research on smart grids’ contribution to achieving Europe's ambitious climate change and energy policy goals, smart homes are not studied to the same extent. The aim of this paper is to illustrate differences and similarities in technical and economic drivers and barriers to smart home market development in three European countries characterized by different policy and socio-economic contexts. The research reveals key barriers to the adoption of smart homes such as reliability, data privacy, and costs of smart home technologies across the countries studied. On the other hand, housing stock characteristics, both age of buildings and tenure, reveal deeper cross-country differences in attitudes and perceptions towards these technologies. The research highlights the need for smart home services that go beyond energy consumption and management services. Only when such a holistic approach is adopted, where other applications such as health or security, suited to the householders’ needs and making positive contribution to their daily lives, are enabled, will the benefits of smart homes become clear to the consumer.

The development of smart homes market in the UK

Smart homes will be a key component of smart grids as without them the functionalities and capabilities offered at network level will not be realised fully by householders. Yet an extensive body of literature focuses on energy consumption and management services via various demand side management programmes and informs us of a significant variation in the realisation of these benefits to reduce demand. However services which can be enabled via smart technology are much broader than simply energy consumption and management, spanning from assisted living to security to remote monitoring, control and management of appliances and devices. Using a combination of in-depth deliberative public workshops, expert interviews and a review of the existing literature, this paper gives an overview of services that smart homes can offer and reveals key barriers to smart home adoption such as interoperability, deregulated electricity supply industry, UK housing stock characteristics, tenure as well as reliability, security, and cost of smart technologies. The findings indicate a need for a holistic view for the design and delivery of smart home services so that consumers are offered integrated services across energy consumption and management to air quality management to security, allowing for individual or tailored services for householders.

해외 6개국의 주거실태조사 비교 분석 및 국내 시사점 : 미국, 영국, 프랑스, 네덜란드, 호주, 일본을 중심으로

본 연구의 목적은 해외 6개국의 주거실태조사를 비교 분석함으로써 국내 주거실태조사의 발전 방안을 논의하였다. 분석 대상 국가는 국가 차원에서 2만 가구 이상의 대규모 조사를 시행하고 자료 수집의 용이성을 감안하여 미국, 영국, 프랑스, 네덜란드, 호주, 일본으로 선정하였다. 비교 분석 항목은 조사 연혁, 목적, 대상, 시행주체, 조사 항목, 자료수집 방법, 조사결과 활용 부분이다. 비교 분석 결과, 각 국가는 자국의 주택재고 특성 및 정책목적에 따라 주거실태조사를 정기적으로 시행하고 있었으며, 그 결과는 주로 정책대상계층 선정 및 적정 임대료 기준 등과 같은 정책 기준선 마련, 주거지원을 위한 예산 수립의 근거로 활용되고 있었다. 2006년부터 현재까지 3차례 시행된 국내 주거실태조사는 이러한 해외의 선험적 사례를 참고로 하여, 향후 조사 내용의 체계화와 표준화, 주택재고 상태의 변화를 모니터링할 수 있는 판단기준과 방법론, 정책대상계층을 규명하는 기준, 그리고 데이터 공개 및 피드백 장치를 마련하여 그 정책적 활용성을 더욱 높여 나가야 할 것이다. The aim of this study is to discuss ways to improve Korea's housing survey by comparatively analyzing the housing surveys being carried out in six other countries. The subject countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Australia, and Japan-the countries that conducts large-scale surveys for more than 20,000 households on a national level and where data collection is easily available. The comparative analysis items include survey history, purpose, subject, project owner, survey item, data collection method, and the use of survey outcome. The comparative analysis results showed that each of the six countries are conducting national housing condition surveys on a regular basis considering each nation's characteristics of housing stock and policy goals, and the survey results are being used as the basis for setting policy guidelines including the selection of policy targets and the determination of appropriate rent standards, and the basis for housing assistance budget planning. Korea's housing survey has been conducted three times up until now since 2006. There should be efforts to systemize and standardize the survey components, establish standards for monitoring the changing trend of national housing stock, standards for determining policy targets, and measures to open data and provide feedback considering the preceding studies of overseas countries in order to better utilize the housing survey data for policy development.

Empowerment Zones, neighborhood change and owner-occupied housing

This paper examines the effects of a generous, spatially targeted economic development policy (the federal Empowerment Zone program) on local neighborhood characteristics and on the neighborhood quality of life, taking into account the interactions amongst the policy, changes in neighborhood demographics and neighborhood housing stock. Urban economic theory posits that housing prices in a small area should increase as quality of life increases, because people will be willing to pay more to live in the area, but these changes in prices and quality of life will also affect the demographics of the population through sorting and the housing stock through reinvestment. Using census block-group level data, we examine how housing prices respond to the Empowerment Zone policy intervention. Changes in the other dimensions of neighborhood quality (demographics and housing stock characteristics) will also help determine the total — or full — effect on housing values of the policy intervention. This paper estimates these direct and full effects in a simultaneous equations setting, compares direct and indirect effects and examines the robustness of the effects to alternate estimation strategies. We find strong evidence for substantively large and highly significant direct price effects, while results suggest that the indirect effects are substantively small or even negative.

Empowerment Zones, Neighborhood Change and Owner Occupied Housing

This paper examines the effects of a generous, spatially-targeted economic development policy (the federal Empowerment Zone program) on local neighborhood characteristics and on the neighborhood quality of life, taking into account the interactions amongst the policy, changes in neighborhood demographics and neighborhood housing stock. Urban economic theory posits that housing prices in a small area should increase as quality of life increases, because people will be more willing to pay to live in the area, but these changes in prices and quality of life will also affect the demographics of the population through sorting and the housing stock through reinvestment. Using census block-group-level data, we examine how housing prices respond to the Empowerment Zone policy intervention. Changes in the other dimensions of neighborhood quality (demographics and housing stock characteristics) will also help determine the total, or full effect on housing values of the policy intervention. This paper estimates these direct and indirect effects in a simultaneous equations setting, compares indirect and full effects, and examines the robustness of the effects to alternate estimation strategies. We find strong evidence for substantively large and highly significant direct price effects, while results suggest that the indirect effects are substantively small or even negative.

Identifying Robust, Parsimonious Neighborhood Indicators

Identifying a few indicators that summarily tracked key dimensions of neighborhoods would be invaluable for neighborhood monitoring and measuring impacts of interventions. The goal of this article is to search empirically for such robust, parsimonious indicators. In five cities, the authors analyze the interrelationships among a broad set of census tract indicators related to mortgage market activity; home prices; jobs and firms; demographic, socioeconomic, and housing stock characteristics; crime; and public assistance and health. Through factor analysis, they identify four to six neighborhood dimensions among these indicators that are common across cities. Using regression, the authors identify a parsimonious number of indicators that are inexpensive, annually updated, and available for all U.S. communities yet robustly capture significant variation in these neighborhood dimensions. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data on mortgage approval rates, loan amounts, and loan applications and Dunn and Bradstreet data on businesses comprise such a set for four of the dimensions.

Muffled Price Signals: Household Water Demand under Increasing-Block Prices

In many areas of the world, including large parts of the United States, scarce water supplies are a serious resource and environmental concern. The possibility exists that water is being used at rates that exceed what would be dictated by efficiency criteria, particularly when externalities are taken into account. Because of this, much attention has been paid by policy makers and others to the use of demand management techniques, including requirements for the adoption of specific technologies and restrictions on particular uses. A natural question for economists to ask is whether price would be a more cost-effective instrument to facilitate water demand management. As a first step in such an investigation, this paper draws upon a newly-available set of detailed data to estimate econometrically the demand function for household use of urban water supplies. We analyze cross-sectional time-series data that track 1,082 single-family households served by 16 water utilities in 11 urban areas in the United States and Canada. Because of the diverse multiple-block pricing structures that abound, estimating the effects of price and price structure on residential water demand poses some challenging and interesting problems. We find that the sensitivity of residential water demand to price is quite low, and that the effect of price structure may be more influential than the magnitude of marginal price itself. The household-level data we use allow us to assess the influences on residential water demand of climate, sociodemographic factors, and characteristics of housing stock, including home vintage. Our results indicate substantial heterogeneity in likely household responses to utility demand-management policies.

Subtenures and Housing Outcomes for Low Income Renters in New York City

New York has devised a variety of policy approaches to improve the housing status of low-income households, including public housing, publicly subsidized private housing, rent vouchers, welfare shelter allowances, rent regulation, and tax incentives to landlords. Little systematic attention has been paid to how these various subtenures compare when judged by the housing outcomes they produce for low-income households in the city. Using data from the 1996 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, this article compares New York City’s rental subtenures in terms of the following outcomes: housing quality, crowding, affordability, residential mobility/stability, and various indicators of neighborhood quality. Adjusting for differences in household and housing stock characteristics, we find that the tenant-based Section 8 program seems to produce the best set of overall outcomes for low-income renters in the city.

Regional Differences in Household Composition and Family Formation Patterns in Vietnam

This paper studies household composition in Vietnam from a regional perspective. The analysis is based on data from the Vietnam Living Standards Survey conducted in 1992- 1993 (VLSS 1992-93) on a nationally representative sample of 4800 households. The results point to a higher proportion of nuclear families in the North, while more extended and multiple family households exist in the South. Analyses suggest that young couples of the southern regions tend to live with their parents more often, and for a longer period, than young couples of the North. Couples of the South and of the Center display more flexibility as to whether to live with paternal or maternal kin, whereas couples of the North feature a clear preference for co-residing with paternal kin. The discussion attempts to characterize the Vietnamese family based on these findings and reviews explanations for regional differences, namely north-south differences in housing stock characteristics, political history, cultural influences and migration patterns.