RESIDENTIAL PREFERENCES OF YOUNG ADULTS: CITY VERSUS SUBURBAN

Abstract

Most people tend to associate city living with young adults. After all, the city centre seems to encompass all that the young likes, from trendy clubs to classy restaurants. It would seem fun and exciting to live right where all the activity is. Yet, there is no verification proving that young people would truly desire an urbanite's life more. This study sought to determine if city living is indeed more appealing than suburban living; as well to find out the demographic attributes of the "urbanite" and "suburbanite". A questionnaire was designed to interview 200 young adults aged between 21-35 years old, in the vicinities of Orchard Road, Raffles Place and NUS campus.Using quantitative measures such as correlation analysis and descriptive statistics to analyze the results from the questionnaire interviews, it was revealed that young adults in Singapore do not prefer a city centre residence to one in the suburban regions. Instead, most of them prefer to live in the suburbs. There are many reasons for this, partly because most young adults have grown up in the suburbs and have come to like living in the suburbs. Those who preferred the city were likely to be single and childless; while those preferring the suburbs were likely to be married and have children. Young males and females also had different perceptions of the various attributes of the city centre and suburbs. Although city living is found to be not as popular as thought, it does have its benefits and is worth the authorities' efforts in promoting it. This study provides useful recommendations for the various players of the local real estate market concerned about inner city apartments, be they private developers, urban planners or policy makers.