Housing preferences of the Hungarian creative youth and its changes in the light of COVID-19 – results of a longitudinal focus group study

Abstract

In Hungary, the emigration of creative young people to the capital or to large cities abroad is a particular challenge for rural areas. However, it can be seen that COVID-19 has significantly reshaped this trend over the past two years. These tendencies are particularly important to examine as the presence and economic activity of human capital has a significant impact on the competitiveness and resilience of cities. In addition to the complex indicators and city rankings synthesizing primarily quantitative data, it may also be important to gain a qualitative understanding of the current attractiveness and repulsion factors.

The aim of the paper is to nuance the choice of residential preferences of creative young people in Hungary and the changes in their motivations under the influence of COVID-19. A framework of a longitudinal qualitative study was used as a continuation and supplement of the previously conducted quantitative research of the authors, examining the young, highly qualified workforce attraction potential of Hungarian axial cities and middle-sized cities.

The empirical part of the research is based on eight focus groups, four of which were conducted in person in June 2019 and four more times in June 2021, with the same 23 young participants. In the first phase of the research, 9 main motivational factors had been identified for choosing a place of residence, whose order of priorities was significantly modified by COVID-19 and by the change in the life situation of the participants (place of residence, work, study status, marital status).

As a result of the study, it can be seen that while moving (back) to the countryside was still unavailable to many in 2019 due to practical constraints such as higher education, employment and social life, COVID-19 - and subsequent home office, the appreciation of the natural environment and the family - catalysed and accelerated the decision for many young people to move to the countryside. It should be noted that in the examined group, due to their age and change in status, a kind of value restructuring can be observed regardless of the pandemic.

Overall, the vast majority of young people interviewed for this research have either moved to the agglomeration of Budapest or to the countryside or are thinking about changing residential location.