Exploring the Renovation Status and Flexible Strategies of Urban Housing in China Based on Two Surveys of Residents and Architects

Abstract

Housing renovations have become an important part of the construction of living environments in China, and improving residential flexibility is an important way to facilitate renovations. This study focused on the adjustments of interior space and living function from the perspective of the application of flexible design strategies through two-stage surveys. The renovation contents and needs of 439 residents were statistically analyzed, an evaluation of design strategies was performed by 226 architects, and a correlation analysis was carried out based on the data. The results showed that the distribution of renovations was positively related to the renovation difficulty and could be summarized into four parts, viz., functional arrangement, device and pipeline, furniture and storage, and decorative details, while the willingness to renovate was related to living requirements. Twenty design strategies for improving housing flexibility were evaluated, and a statistical analysis was carried out on the flexibility assessment and adoption willingness provided by architects. In 14 of these strategies, the flexibility assessment affected the architects’ willingness to adopt the design (p < 0.05); however, the adoption willingness was affected by external factors in the other six strategies, such as cost control. In addition, the architects’ adoption willingness score was generally lower than their assessment score for the same strategy; thus, top-level guidance to promote the application of flexible strategies should be strengthened.