How do neighbourhood perceptions interact with moving desires and intentions?

Abstract

Research on residential mobility in the last two decades has increased our understanding about moving in general and how neighbourhoods play a role in actual residential choices. At the same time the way in which the neighbourhood interacts with deciding to move is less well understood. In this paper, we explore the interaction between the neighbourhood and the expression of intentions and desires to move. The present study uses multinomial logistic regression models to explore residential desires and intentions in the southern European city of Granada (Spain), with special attention to the differences due to context. The most important difference with international studies are in the respondents with ‘no desires but intentions’ to move, a combination frequently found in young adults before they leave the parental home. The results show that our set of neighbourhood measures (social interaction, satisfaction, perceived problems, and the socio-economic status of the area) work differently over desires and intentions. Satisfaction alone does not explain the effect of the neighbourhood over residential desires and intentions, and the addition of other variables increases the explanatory power of the models.