Market Actors' Views on Urban Family Living: Informing Urban Planning and Place Marketing in Preparation for Urban Transitions

Abstract

Cities want to attract young families as residents instead of losing them to the suburbs. This asks for profound and specific understanding of the housing-related needs and expectations of those families desiring urban living. The article presents and discusses these needs and expectations, focussing on social and environmental issues, as seen by different market actors with regard to a major urban transition area in Basel, Switzerland, a typical middle-sized western European city. We used the exploration parcours technique, which allows for what is called “information acceleration” including an in-depth encounter with different scenarios of urban design before responding to a questionnaire on urban family living (N = 80). The results indicate that housing suppliers underestimate young families' demand for participation, for the recognition of children's needs, and, to a large extent, for high environmental standards.

Acknowledgements

This research project was funded by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) as part of its National Research Programme (NRP) 54 “Sustainable Development of the Built Environment” (Project Number 405440-107075/1). The authors thank Fridolin Brand, Margrit Hugentobler, Bastian Lange, Daniel Lehmann Pollheimer, Andy Spörri, Michael Stauffacher, Stefan Zemp, ecos (Basel), the Planning Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt and the primary case study partner (Vivico Real Estate GmbH) for their support and helpful suggestions.

Notes

The German railway station, although on Swiss territory, is owned and run by the German railway (Deutsche Bahn AG) (cf. Scholz et al., 2005).

A reduction from nine to eight factors optimises factor analysis arithmetically (explained variance 80.81%, KMO measure of sampling adequacy 0.66, mean value for communalities 0.44). However, because in this solution “diversity & social cohesion” (F6) merges with “indoor and outdoor fixtures appropriate for children” (F9), we stick to the nine-factor solution despite its slightly lower explanatory value. This allows further analyses with the single factors F6 and F9, which both appear highly relevant with respect to urban family living.