Housing chain and factors affecting selection of housing in the Bangkok metropolitan region

Abstract

Industrialization is shifting to out of the Bangkok Metropolitan Region (BMR), while Bangkok is increasingly enhancing the function of service industries. The younger generation of Bangkok is becoming more educated, and changing their lifestyles including jobs, consumption, family image, and housing patterns. Housing development patterns changed drastically after the Asian Economic Crisis from 1997 to 1999. Suburban housing developments became less active, while inner city housing developments became more popularalong with mass transit lines such as the sky-train and subways. This study aims toclarify(1) residents’ attributes of the recent most popular private housing types such as detached/twin houses, townhouses, and condominium; (2) important factors for selecting present housingand factors affecting selection behavior; and (3) the changing pattern of residence, the so-called “housing chain” in the BMR. The data for the research was collected from a household activity survey and questionnaires completed by selected households in typical housing projects in the BMR. We clarify two types of housing chains. One is the conventional family-basedhousing chain from rental apartment or parents’ house to ownership of a condominium, townhouse, and detached/twin house. The selection of a townhouse or detached/twin house depends on residents’ affordability. The other is based on a new living style, wherein the condominium is the final housing goal in the housing chain for those who have a new family image such as DINKS, or those whoprefer the single life or are LGBT. This implies that housing policy should set a new policy target to supplysmall condominiums for single people or couples, not only housing for families.