Determinants of residential satisfaction in urban China: A multi-group structural equation analysis

Based on the 2006 wave of the China General Social Survey, this paper analyses interregional disparities in residential satisfaction in urban China. It also explores whether the determinants vary across the coastal, central and inland regions by means of a multi-group structural equation model (SEM). We find that residential satisfaction in the coastal region is lower than in the central and inland regions. Housing quality, home ownership, community type, socioeconomic status and Hukou in all three regions have positive impacts on residential satisfaction, while the presence of children has a negative effect. The magnitude of each variable’s impact on residential satisfaction varies across regions due to the disparities in economic, social and physical conditions. Housing quality is the most important determinant of residential satisfaction in the coastal region, whereas community type and Hukou are the most important in the central and inland regions.