The linkage between the residential choice and the lifestyle of knowledge workers: a self-organizing map approach

This study investigates the linkage between the lifestyle and the intra-metropolitan residential choice of knowledge-workers in terms of home ownership, location, dwelling size and building type. In order to identify population groups based on their lifestyle, data from a revealed-preferences survey among knowledge-workers in Israel are clustered by means of a two-stage clustering method, consisting of self-organizing maps (SOM) followed by neural gas, Bayesian classification and unified distance matrix edge analysis. The method is embedded in the software Synapse. Five clusters are identified: nest-builders, bon-vivants, careerists, entrepreneurs and laid-back. The clusters significantly differ in terms of their home ownership, location, dwelling size and building type. Bon-vivants and entrepreneurs differ in their dwelling size and home ownership, although both prefer the metropolitan core. Careerists prefer suburban large single-detached houses. Hence, bon-vivants and entrepreneurs bear potential to form part of core revitalization processes, while careerists are the more likely to induce urban sprawl. Nest-builders and laid-back are attracted to central locations, conditional on the provision of affordable medium-size dwellings.