Culture and Housing Preferences in a Developing City

Abstract

This article aims to ground the relations between culture and housing preferences in a developing city with empirical analysis. Based on Amos Rapoport’s framework, this study dismantles the term “culture” into different components and tests their significance as predictors of housing preferences in Gaza City. Based on 1,269 face-to-face interviews with adults in the city, this study concludes that housing preferences in Gaza are determined by components of culture, mainly those related to issues of gender, politics, religion, kinship, and social relations. The findings revealed that among cultural components, kinship relations and attitudes toward women are likely to be crucial for individual Palestinians seeking new housing. The present study is an attempt to move beyond the grand concept of culture to consider its components and to apply this framework to different cultures.