Sustainable Urban Development and Residential Space Demand in the Untact Era: The Case of South Korea

The study analyzes the demand for residential space in the Untact Era. Residential space comprises six categories: the most necessary dedicated space (DS), most preferred south-facing space (SFS), largest space (LS), most necessary shared space (SS), most necessary infra-space (IS), and others. Results indicated the following: 1) All respondents had the highest preference for relaxing spaces except DS. 2) Differences were found between DS, SFS, and LS by age and SS; IS by residential area; and DS, SS, and IS by household size. 3) People aged 60+ preferred a living room while people aged 40–59 preferred a larger kitchen. Seoul citizens preferred gardens or parks in the complex or neighboring forests whereas local citizens preferred shared offices and medical centers. Households of three or more persons preferred a park/forest and two-person households preferred a honbap restaurant. The implications for housing policy are as follows. 1) Nature-friendly spaces are needed to alleviate a sense of isolation. 2) Changing demand for residential space should be reflected in housing policies. 3) The government’s housing supply policy with the same residential space and structure must be changed to provide various residential spaces according to age, residential area, and household size.