Abstract
This chapter examines the residential choices of the residents of a 1990s suburban development near Tokyo that comprised well-designed condominiums. The purpose of this chapter is to clarify the new condominium lifestyle that emerged after the suburbanization of Tokyo. Many potential homeowners at this time had grown up in major metropolitan areas. They therefore had different housing needs and behavior in terms of residential choices and lifestyles, compared with their parents. Here, we clarify the decision-making processes for residential choices using the case of Makuhari Bay Town.
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Notes
- 1.
Numerous attempts have been made to demonstrate the decision-making process regarding homeownership based on both the two-stage model of Brown and Moore (1970) and studies of residential mobility in urban areas (Robson 1975; Short 1978). Brown and Moore’s model consists of two stages: the decision to move and the search for a new residence. In the first stage, individuals evaluate the conditions of their current residence, the surrounding neighborhoods, and their economic and family situation. They consider these conditions along with their needs, expectations, and aspirations for a new residence, after which they begin searching for one. In the second stage, individuals seek to balance the available residences and their housing needs. They tend to search for detailed housing and neighborhood information in familiar areas (Brown and Moore 1970; Wolpert 1965). When they choose a residence, practical aspects such as housing price are valued. The decision-making processes underlying the choice of a residence are affected by housing information (Ito 2001). Today, information technology has changed the decision-making patterns pertaining to the choice of a new residence (Bean and Guttery 1997; Smith and Clark 1980). For example, scholars have concluded that using internet shortens the search period, enlarges the search area, and decreases the housing price (Bond et al. 2000; Palm and Danis 2001; Zampano et al. 2003).
- 2.
This study focuses on decision-making processes in relation to residential choices for homeownership. Thus, 18 households living in rental apartments in the town were excluded from the study.
- 3.
The Makuhari Bay Town search is also a type of spot-search pattern.
- 4.
A community center in the town called Bay Town Core was completed in 2001, and a neighboring park, Utase San-chome Koen, was completed on the condition that the residents maintain it. The Makuhari Bay Town residents’ association includes representatives of all smaller residents’ associations in the town. Furthermore, 37 condominium buildings have homeowners’ associations to maintain the residences, and 15 have organized residents’ communities. Of these associations, 21 joined the Makuhari Bay Town residents’ association, and three additional organizations joined as observers (Residents’ Association Union Notes April 2009). The Makuhari Bay Town residents’ association also includes 11 supportive organizations that contribute to improving the residential environment, urban management, the green environment, and residents’ quality of life. In 2009, 55 organizations were registered as community center users (List of Makuhari Bay Town Core Users 2009).
- 5.
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Acknowledgments
This chapter is a modified and revised version of the following paper published in Japanese: Kubo (2010). Decision-making processes in residential choices of condominium residents in Makuhari Bay Town. Japanese Journal of Human Geography 62:1–19.
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Kubo, T. (2020). A New Condominium Town in the Tokyo Bay Area: Making “Home” an Antithesis to Rootlessness in Suburbia. In: Divided Tokyo. International Perspectives in Geography, vol 11. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4202-2_5
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