2001 Volume 52 Issue 3 Pages 265-276
This paper presents the changes in people's preferences for housing and residential areas in an attempt to make clear the influence, considered to be significant, caused by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. These influences and changes will affect how people view housing and consequently influence the future trend in the housing market. This paper discusses the result of a survey of residents of HUD owned rental housing in Nara (located in the same Kinki region) and Hamamatsu (expected the large earthquake “Tokai Earthquake”) in an attempt to obtain a better understanding of regional differences.
With regard to preference for type of housing, most of the people who were influenced by the earthquake tend not to prefer high-rise or super high-rise housing, and instead showed their preference to medium-rise or low-rise housing. With regard to preference for floor level, more people chose medium level floors. It is thought that people in Nara and Hamamatsu consider heights up to medium levels closer enough to the ground to lie within the bounds of feeling safe as was the case for people in the disaster area.
With regard to preference for type of ownership, residents of HUD rental housing in this survey have become increasingly in favor of public housing because of the feeling of greater security as was the case for people in the disaster. This response was more evident in the case of people in their 60's and 70's and above many of whom intended to permanently live in their rental properties. As for preference to types of structure, not many people preferred the conventional wooden structure. It is thought that the people in Nara and Hamamatsu did not forget many conventional wooden structure houses collapsed at the time surveyed, 1 year after the earthquake, and they imaged conventional wooden structure is vulnerable to earthquakes. With regard to the preference for location of housing, the desire to live in suburban areas of the people appears to have been strengthened, reflecting the effect of the heavy damage this earthquake caused to high-density city areas. People who visited the disaster area and whose relatives lived in the disaster area were more influenced by the earthquake than others. The people in Hamamatsu were more influenced by the earthquake than those in Nara because they have been expecting and making preparations for the “Tokai Earthquake.”
Preferences for housing and residential areas were also influenced by factors such as the conditions of the ground supporting the building, structure of the housing, density of housing, maintenance of housing, neighborhood and local community, proximity to relatives' homes. Overall, there appears to be significant changes in the perception of the importance of these factors as a result of the earthquake as was the case for people in the disaster.
