Choice of Residential Environment in the Randstad

Abstract

This contribution adds to our earlier work on the residential choices of households who move, by studying the role of the residential environment in the relocation process. This is done by analysing individual household flows within and between residential environments. When residential environment is introduced, it aids the understanding of choices of tenure and type of dwelling. When residential environment is added as a characteristic of the choice set, we are able to show the way in which environment acts as a context for households' choices. Households choose almost uniformly to relocate within residential environments that are the same as those in which they originate, but the transitions between dwelling types (owning, single-family renting and multi-family renting) are most revealing of the relative roles of context (environment) and household composition. In particular, as in other Western countries, there is a sustained transfer to suburban environments, but mostly for family households.