Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the concept, the necessity, and the increase of popularity of multi-habitation, a new life style in which inhabitants in urban areas reside in primarily condominiums during weekdays and retreat to dwellings in rural areas on the weekends. This paper also focuses on finding implication messages from analyzing the demand of multi-habitation in a survey which was conducted for 735 people who live in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan areas in July 2009. Analysis of literature shows that based on five aspects (population structure, social economy, lifestyle, tourism, and housing market) this dynamic lifestyle, multi-habitation, is believed to be common in South Korea, and may increase in popularity in the near future. The results of the survey illustrate that the respondents show high interest in multi-habitation, and their most preferred locations are the green areas around the Seoul metropolitan area, which are one to two hours away by car. Moreover, regarding the participants' preferences in rural areas they were classified into three groups; those who want to reside in a nature environment, those who want to reside near family and in a close community, and those who want to reside in an environment that has essential facilities and easy accessibility.
