TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of symmetries and asymmetries on barriers to sustainable housing in developing countries
AU - Adabre, Michael Atafo
AU - Chan, Albert P.C.
AU - Edwards, David J.
AU - Mensah, Sarfo
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper forms part of a research project entitled “Affordable Housing Supply: A Comparative Study between Developed and Developing Economies”, from which other deliverables have been produced with different objectives but sharing common background and methodology. The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the Research Grants Council (RGC) and the Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Polytechnic University and the National Research Foundation (NRF) , South Africa for their financial support in conducting this study. The authors are also grateful to the editors and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/6/1
Y1 - 2022/6/1
N2 - For effective policy development and implementation for sustainable housing, the perspectives of professionals (i.e., suppliers of housing facilities and services) and households (i.e., consumers thereof) must be assessed concurrently. However, with sparse studies examining both the supply and demand-sides of sustainable housing development simultaneously, policymakers are plagued with unbalanced information. Consequently, eclectic and specific policies cannot be formulated for implementation. This study presents a concurrent evaluation of sustainability challenges from both perspectives towards identifying symmetries and asymmetries on sustainable housing barriers. Four categorizations of barriers were developed from extant literature, viz: ‘economic’, ‘social’, ‘environmental’ and ‘institutional’ barriers. Primary data was gathered using a structured questionnaire that was distributed via a non-probability purposive sampling technique to both professionals working in formal/regulated institutions of the Ghanaian housing market and household occupants. A test of significant difference on underlying barriers was conducted using Mann-Whitney U test. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) technique was also employed for dealing with subjectivity in responses attributed to differences in respondents' aim, motivation and experience for an objective evaluation of a multivariate factor (i.e., category of barriers). The study's findings revealed significant differences among some underlying barriers rated by the two respondent groups. Likewise, there were significant differences supported at p < 0.05 at a Z-value of −2.24 and p < 0.05 at a Z-value of −1.48 on the social and environmental categories of barriers, respectively. Practically, results on the test of significant difference are indicative of barriers that require all-inclusive and specific policies. Moreover, the FSE indices provide allocative purpose by directing resources from policymakers towards more critical barriers for sustainable housing.
AB - For effective policy development and implementation for sustainable housing, the perspectives of professionals (i.e., suppliers of housing facilities and services) and households (i.e., consumers thereof) must be assessed concurrently. However, with sparse studies examining both the supply and demand-sides of sustainable housing development simultaneously, policymakers are plagued with unbalanced information. Consequently, eclectic and specific policies cannot be formulated for implementation. This study presents a concurrent evaluation of sustainability challenges from both perspectives towards identifying symmetries and asymmetries on sustainable housing barriers. Four categorizations of barriers were developed from extant literature, viz: ‘economic’, ‘social’, ‘environmental’ and ‘institutional’ barriers. Primary data was gathered using a structured questionnaire that was distributed via a non-probability purposive sampling technique to both professionals working in formal/regulated institutions of the Ghanaian housing market and household occupants. A test of significant difference on underlying barriers was conducted using Mann-Whitney U test. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) technique was also employed for dealing with subjectivity in responses attributed to differences in respondents' aim, motivation and experience for an objective evaluation of a multivariate factor (i.e., category of barriers). The study's findings revealed significant differences among some underlying barriers rated by the two respondent groups. Likewise, there were significant differences supported at p < 0.05 at a Z-value of −2.24 and p < 0.05 at a Z-value of −1.48 on the social and environmental categories of barriers, respectively. Practically, results on the test of significant difference are indicative of barriers that require all-inclusive and specific policies. Moreover, the FSE indices provide allocative purpose by directing resources from policymakers towards more critical barriers for sustainable housing.
KW - Circular economy
KW - Economic sustainability
KW - Environmental sustainability
KW - Institutional sustainability barriers
KW - Social sustainability
KW - Sustainable housing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85124798161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jobe.2022.104174
DO - 10.1016/j.jobe.2022.104174
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85124798161
SN - 2352-7102
VL - 50
JO - Journal of Building Engineering
JF - Journal of Building Engineering
M1 - 104174
ER -
