Qualified Labors' Resident Location Choice and Residential Satisfaction

Abstract

Decentralization of production and services in a global economy changes the dynamics of urban space as well as housing location choices of households. While the choice of housing is shaped by the house prices and travel behavior of households in a mono-centered city, it is determined by a complex decision mechanism in a poly-centered (metropolitan) city which is shaped by the decentralization of industries. Preferences of individuals, location of job(s), amenities, social and cultural facilities and accessibility options are the main components of this complex process of housing location. The shift of the working areas of the qualified workforce within the creative class (such as science-technology workers, engineers, architects, designers, educators) from urban center to the periphery over time, raises the examination of the housing location choices of creatives. For this purpose, the dynamics of housing location selection of the qualified workforce working in the periphery of the Istanbul Metropolitan Area are examined in this study. Gebze as a huge warehouse for the jobs and employees has been an attractive location for industrial companies in the process of decentralization of industry from Istanbul and has become an important industrial settlement in the hinterland of Istanbul. Creative jobs such as public and private R & D centers, technology intensive production zones and a university where the qualified workforce chooses to work intensively are established in Gebze. Due to the spatial proximity and transportation possibilities to Istanbul which are getting stronger by the regional transportation projects, employees in Gebze have a wide range of housing possibilities. They can choose the districts of Gebze and other districts of Kocaeli as well as the districts of Istanbul. In this context, the study focuses on the employees in Gebze and examines their residential location choices and residential satisfaction. In order to understand these dynamics, a questionnaire was applied to the employees working in Gebze by using semi-structured interview form. The findings of the questionnaire show that there are significant differences in terms of labor force quality and satisfaction between employees living in different housing areas.