Abstract
This study examined the key factors that significantly improved the demand of multi-habitation. It determined the factors at the macroscopic level (or push factors) and the microscopic level (or pull factors). Focusing on a microscopic viewpoint, this study looked at the process of settlement through investigating 78 MH residents in the Seoul metropolitan area. The survey included the questions, such as who they are, how they prepared for moving, and how much they enjoyed their rural lives. In addition, any differences in this process were analyzed depending on respondents' characteristics. Major findings are as follows: First, general macro-level circumstances seemed supportive for the MH lifestyles. Second, six keywords were determined to represent the recent MH trends. They are "semi-sedentism, clustering, young people, female, money, and policy". Third, the distances between the original towns for native residents and new second-home towns for MH residents affected the interactions among them. However, these two groups had better relationships when the second-home towns were apart from the original towns. I then considered the need of a buffer zone between the two residential areas for MH residents. The conceptual difference between MH residents (i.e., semi-sedentism) and original rural residents (i.e., sedentism) might require certain types of buffer zones to continue good relationships among them.
