Compact development and preference heterogeneity in residential location choice behaviour: A latent class analysis
- 31 March 2014
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Urban Studies
- Vol. 52 (2), 314-337
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098014527138
Abstract
The success of compact development depends in part on accurately gauging its public demand and understanding residents’ preferences towards it. Drawing upon a stated-preference survey in the Wasatch Front region in Utah, this paper estimates preferences for compact, walkable and transit-friendly neighbourhoods through the application of a discrete choice experiment. Results derived from a latent class analysis reveal significant heterogeneity in residential location preferences. Overall, strong preferences for compact development are more likely to occur among families with fewer school-age children, low-income and renter-occupied households, and those who appreciate social heterogeneity and have less desire for privacy. These tastes are also associated with personal preferences for walking and biking and supportive opinions toward environmental protection and urban growth boundary policies. By comparing respondents’ preferences to their actual residential and travel choices in two contrasting subregions, we further address the complex relationships between environment, preferences, residential locations and travel.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Urban sprawl and social interaction potential: an empirical analysis of large metropolitan regions in the United StatesJournal of Transport Geography, 2013
- Reducing car use: changing attitudes or relocating? The influence of residential dissonance on travel behaviorJournal of Transport Geography, 2011
- Comparing Single and Joint Preferences: A Choice Experiment on Residential Location in Three-Member HouseholdsEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2011
- Stated Preferences for Sustainable Housing Development in Germany—A Latent Class AnalysisJournal of Planning Education and Research, 2011
- Exploring Causal Effects of Neighborhood Type on Walking Behavior Using Stratification on the Propensity ScoreEnvironment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 2010
- Self‐Selection: A Key to a Better Understanding of Location Choices, Travel Behaviour and Transport Externalities?Transport Reviews, 2009
- EM Algorithms for nonparametric estimation of mixing distributionsJournal of Choice Modelling, 2008
- Is Alternative Development Undersupplied?Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2008
- Latent lifestyle preferences and household location decisionsJournal of Geographical Systems, 2006
- Location Choice vis-à-vis Transportation: Apartment DwellersTransportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2006