Multicriteria Decision Making for Homeowners’ Participation in Building Maintenance
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 138, Issue 2
Abstract
As the residential building stocks in most developed cities are getting older, there is an urgent call for the management of the stocks in a more sustainable manner. Although redevelopment can completely revamp the quality of housing, this approach is far from perfect because of its negative social and environmental effects. In fact, timely maintenance can achieve sustainable housing stock management in theory. However, in a high-rise setting, a large number of homeowners are involved in the maintenance of communal building elements. Conflicts occur because of the divergent interests of different stakeholders in deciding on the way forward for a maintenance project, eventually holding the work back. Against this background, this study explores the relative importance of different criteria for decision making in the maintenance of multiowned residential buildings in Hong Kong. Through a literature review, a set of decision-making criteria were identified. The weightings of these criteria perceived by homeowners were evaluated using the nonstructural fuzzy decision support system. The results of the analysis showed that cost affordability of maintenance work and existing building conditions generally dominated the decision-making process. Practical implications for urban managers and public administrators in formulating the strategies to promote housing maintenance then follow.
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Acknowledgments
The work described in this paper was supported jointly by a grant from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. CityU 1508/08) and the Start-Up Grant for New Staff from City Univ. of Hong Kong (Project No. 7200123). The findings of the pilot study were presented in the European Network for Housing Research Annual Conf. 2009 in Prague, and the author would like to thank the conference delegates for their valuable comments and suggestions for the development of this paper.
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Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 138 • Issue 2 • June 2012
Pages: 110 - 120
Copyright
© 2012. American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 21, 2010
Accepted: Oct 17, 2011
Published online: Oct 20, 2011
Published in print: Jun 1, 2012
Published ahead of production: Jun 15, 2012
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