Abstract:
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This study was designed to reveal (a) residential expansion and population growth in Bangkok Metropolis during the five-year period of 1984-1988, (b) factors that influence selection of singlehouses, townhouses, and high-rise or tallbuildings for residence (c) factors that effect residential satisfaction, residentail mobility expectation, and actual residential mobility of singlehouse, townhouse, and tallbuilding dwellers, (d) the associations between changes in the set of demographic variables, personal characteristics and residential conditions of the three groups of dwellers, and changes in the two residential mobility variables, satisfaction and residential mobility expectation of the three groups of dwellers.
The unit of analysis in this study is of two levels : (a) community level, consisting of secondary data only ; and (b) individual level, consisting of primary data obtained from the longitudinal study involving two rounds of survey interviews of a sample of population of 600. Round II survey used the same sample population interviewed in Round I survey two years before.
Analysis of five years retrospective data revealed that the growth in Bangkok's population was primarily caused by residential mobility, in addition to a natural increase due to births. Furthermore, the residential mobility pattern was found to be mainly interdistrict mobility within the limits of Bangkok, the trend was to move out of the inner parts of the city to suburban areas.
Contextual analysis of the collected data revealed that tallbuilding, singlehouse, and townhouse dwellers differ in terms of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Both residential satisfaction and residential mobility, the dependent variables, were found to be associated with residential characteristics, housing types, neighborhood, cost of living, personal characteristics, and community conditions, the independent variables.
Residential satisfaction among singlehouse dwellers was higher than resigential satisfaction among townhouse or tallbuilding dwellers.
Residential mobility expectations among singlehouse dwellers was lower than residential mobility expectations among tallbuilding or townhouse dwellers.
Actual residential mobility among tallbuilding dwellers was higher than actual residential mobility among singlehouse or townhouse dwellers.
The findings from this lead to the following recommendations to reduce the rate of residential mobility among Bangkok's population.
Tallbuilding type of housing should be erected in city centers, commercial areas, and communications centers where Bangkok's population work. This will help the city population to save on commuting time and expenses. Moreover, the buildings should be erected in relatively closed communities and managed in such a manner that will provide a sufficient amount of privacy, an acceptable standard of cleanliness, and adequate security to the dwellers.
Singlehouses and townhouses, which required more land, should be erected in the suburban areas of Bangkok where land is still abundant and the prevailing land prices are still consicerably lower. The houses should be designed for maximum utility and comfort, and large enough for five-person living without feeling crowded and stressed. Townhouses, sharing common walls, should be partitioned from adjacent units with construction materials capable of muting or preventing the sounds coming from adjacent units and also shielding off the views from adjacent units in order to provide adequate privacy for the dwellers.
Moreover, a variety of activities that promote good relations among the people living in the same neighborhood should be planned and implemented on a continual basis.
Adequate transportation systems between the growing suburban communities and downtown Bangkok should be provided for the benefit of suburban commuters who still work in the city centers. In addition, rapid development of suburban business, industrial, educational, and recreational centers should be promoted in order to stop suburban dwellers' continued dependency on downtown Bangkok for job, educational, and recreational opportunities, and thus stop the urban dwellers from moving into the already congested downtown areas.
Lastly, commercial banking system should provide both short and long-term loans for residential renovations or residential alterations, including the purchasing of new furniture or household articles to downtown home owners who still have a strong attachment to their long-time residences and are unwilling to move elsewhere.
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