Exploring the Preferences for Micro-Apartments

Due to changes in economics, environmental trends and demographic preferences housing preferences are shifting. Nowadays, a growing interest exists in microapartments. Micro-apartments give rise to new forms of living in and around the home. As a result, the design of micro-apartments is considered to be important since it can affect the well-being of the individual. The micro-apartment has to have flexible furniture and provide a comfortable living environment for the individual. This study focuses on the concepts of micro-living and micro-apartments, and explores the preferences of Turkish people for micro-apartments. Two three-dimensional (3D) computerized microapartment models with different designs are developed for the study. In order to understand the factors that affect the preferences for micro-living and micro-apartments, a questionnaire is conducted with 123 participants living in Ankara. The results indicated that the participants have positive attitudes towards micro-living, and gender, marital status and monthly income are found to be the most influential factors in preferring to live in a micro-apartment. In the assessment of the proposed two micro-apartments models, the model that was designed with a second floor was preferred for privacy reasons.