Vacant House Characteristics by Use Area and Their Application to Sustainable Community

Abstract

The problem of vacant houses is important to identify its causes and then solve it. This study aims to determine the factors affecting the occurrence of vacant houses and examines their influence. The results highlight that the residential environment, population, social, physical environment, and geographic factors are statistically significant for the residential areas’ vacant house occurrence, but physical environmental was not significant for the commercial area vacant house occurrence; however, the individual building factor was significant. In residential areas, if the housing itself becomes obsolete or the area is outdated, people often depart from the area, leaving behind empty houses. In the commercial area, it is possible to decrease the number of vacant houses by converting old houses into shops in line with revitalizing a commercial district; a decrease in the number of businesses can be interpreted as a decline in commercial districts and an increase in vacant houses.