Research on the association between community environmental perception and residents’ intention to relocation–a case study of Guangzhou

TL;DR

This study explores how residents' perceptions of their community environment in Guangzhou influence their intention to relocate.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel focus on subjective environmental perception rather than just objective factors in relocation decisions.

Findings

Age, household registration, and environmental perception significantly influence relocation intention.

Community environmental perception includes disorder, attachment, and satisfaction, all linked to relocation intention.

Perceived disorder increases relocation intention, while attachment and satisfaction decrease it.

Abstract

The community environment is an important factor affecting people’s residential relocation; however, existing literature has primarily focused on the objective aspects of the community environment, with less emphasis on residents’ perception of it.

To address this research gap, we selected 74 typical communities and collected 1,568 questionnaires across Guangzhou. We employed factor analysis to capture participants’ community environmental perception and used binary logistic regression to analyze the association between independent and dependent variables.

The results show that: (1) There is a significant association between age, household registration, and participants’ residential relocation intention; (2) Community environmental perception can be summarized into three aspects: environmental disorder perception, community attachment, and satisfaction, all of which are significantly associated with participants’ residential relocation intention; and (3) There is a positive association between perception of a disorderly environment and residents’ intention to relocation, and a negative association between community attachment and satisfaction and residents’ intention to relocation.

This research is highly significant for enhancing our understanding of factors influencing people’s residential relocation intention and for guiding community construction.

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