During the corona pandemic, the home plays a major role – people suddenly no longer only live there, but also work and learn there. Experts say this leaves its mark on the choice of residential location. Rural areas are becoming more attractive again.
City or country? The corona pandemic has left its mark on the choice of residential location, say experts from the Institute for Regional and Urban Development Research (ILS) in Dortmund. Suburban and rural areas are becoming more attractive again, ILS researchers Angelika Münter, Lisa Garde and Frank Osterhage sum up the debate in the current issue of “ILS Impulse”.
“When schools and day-care centers were closed and people were supposed to work from home if possible, the home was no longer just a place to live, but also a place to learn, be cared for and work. This also changed the demands, for example in terms of living space or number of rooms,” says Münter, according to a statement. Housing preference surveys conducted during the pandemic therefore came to the conclusion that a “smaller” or more rural place of residence tended to be desired. It is not yet possible to say empirically whether this wish ultimately leads to a move – also because various factors play a role in the change of residence.
“Corona has caused developments in time-lapse, especially with a view to the home office,” says Münter. “Anyone who does not have to come to the office at all or only has to come to the office a few days a month can also accept longer commuting times.” In these cases, the digitization of the world of work makes it possible to live in the outskirts of the cities or even beyond. “The pandemic is thus a trend accelerator of decentralization processes in the areas around the big cities and maybe even to well-connected places in rural areas,” says the urban researcher.
The researchers point out that spatial development depends on a large number of trends. The changes triggered by the pandemic are now being overshadowed by other crises that also affect decisions about where to live, such as increased energy and mobility costs.
“It is hardly possible to isolate the effects of individual influencing factors, such as those of the pandemic, on spatial development from other new, sometimes crisis-like influencing factors that have been observed for a long time,” says Münter. Above all, Corona has shown the importance of digitization for spatial development. “Whether someone lives in the city or in the country becomes less relevant for people with a home office job.”