High-rise apartment quality evaluation and related demographic factors: lesson from RentSafeTO programme

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the rapid increase in urbanization and the number of residents living in high-rise apartment buildings, the quality of living environments in terms of the facility, safety and hygiene of high-rise housing has become an important topic. Although numerous studies have investigated occupant satisfaction through subjective assessment, only few studies have used objective assessment methods, such as expert evaluation, to elucidate the quality of high-rise apartments and the related occupancy factors. According to the dataset from Toronto's RentSafeTO programme, which provides the results for 9928 high-rise apartments evaluated using 20 quality indicators, this study conducted a factor analysis and identified two main factors for assessing high-rise housing: building structure and building facilities. Furthermore, this study used multiple regression models and census data to analyse the housing quality at the regional level. The results of social housing and private housing differed. Labour force attributes, education, immigration and ethnic origin significantly affected the quality of private housing. The results provide important directions for the post-occupancy evaluation of high-rise apartments. In addition, demographic factors significantly affected residential quality. This study provides a basis for the government to formulate equal and unbiased support for high-rise building maintenance and management.