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Survey to help select where to stay |
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Survey to help select where to stay
Finweek partnered with market researcher Ask Afrika for the second year running to elicit answers to these questions and help rate South Africa's residential landscape. It's interesting to see how our 2007 findings stack up against those of 2006. In some areas, perceptions have changed quite radically, pushing certain suburbs way up or down the rankings. Others have hardly moved an inch from their 2006 positions.
Ask Afrika uses a "quality of life" methodology to gauge perceptions, which are used to make statistical comparisons between different suburbs. But what exactly constitutes quality of life? Andrea Rademeyer, CEO of Ask Afrika, says the short answer is that quality of life is the extent to which people's happiness requirements are met.
For this particular survey, Ask Afrika measured perceptions of a number of issues that would typically add or detract from the overall well-being of residential communities.
They included factors such as access to parks, noise and air pollution, the standard of roads and pavements, water and electricity supply issues, access to shopping centres, schools, sport and medical facilities, safety and crime issues, the extent that residents felt a sense of community with neighbours and whether or not suburbs offer value for money.
The survey included 25 suburbs in 10 of South Africa's biggest cities. Price range and suburb size were used to make the selection. The top two most expensive suburbs and one middle-class suburb were targeted in each city (see box on suburb selection).
It's therefore important to note that the survey compares only those 25 suburbs selected for the research. The findings are nevertheless regarded as representative of general trends and should give developers, estate agents, banks and investors valuable insights into property buying and residential lifestyle trends.
So how did the suburbs, cities and provinces compare? What will no doubt come as a surprise to some is that from a provincial perspective, the Eastern Cape came out tops this year, with the Port Elizabeth suburb of Summerstrand ranking as the best South African suburb in which to live in 2007. Goodwood, in Cape Town, came second, followed by the Durban suburbs of Hillcrest and Kloof third and fourth respectively, with Constantia (Cape Town) ranking fifth (see table).
The worst area to live in, according to the survey, is the southern suburbs of Polokwane in Limpopo province. Del Judor and Die Heuwel, both in Witbank, and Grimbeekpark/Bailiepark (Potchefstroom) also ranked in the bottom five. Interestingly, Melville in Johannesburg - a middle-class suburb traditionally regarded as a hot spot for actors, musicians, journalists and arty types - fared remarkably poorly in the quality of life stakes. Although it was the first time that Melville was included in the survey, it came in at second last.
Johannesburg's upmarket northern suburb of Bryanston didn't produce much better results, ranking 20th of the 25 selected suburbs. However, Bryanston managed to improve its position slightly from last year, when it had the dubious honour of being South Africa's most undesirable upmarket suburb.
It's also worth noting that two of this year's other "losers" - Del Judor and Die Heuwel (Witbank) - featured at the bottom of the pile in 2006.
All five of the losing suburbs rated particularly poorly with regard to safety. Melville residents felt the least safe of all 25 suburbs. The bottom five suburbs also scored low in terms of access to living resources, with a shortage of good schools, shopping centres, hospitals and sporting facilities contributing to negative perceptions of those suburbs.
However, there were some noticeable changes at the top end of the scale over the 12-month period. For example, Dan Pienaar (Bloemfontein) dropped from the number one spot in 2006 to 13th position in 2007. In sharp contrast, the Durban suburbs of Hillcrest and Kloof markedly improved their ratings from 10th and 11th spots in 2007 to third and fourth respectively in 2007. Cape Town's well-heeled suburb of Constantia also rated far better in 2007 than in 2006, moving from 12th to fifth position.
One overriding trend, says Rademeyer, is that the quality of life in South Africa's higher and middle-income suburbs has improved "significantly" since 2006. She says that follows the general trend of South Africa's economy, which has been in a strong growth phase since 1999.
A key finding is that environmental issues - noise/air pollution and how much natural beauty the area offers - play a major role in most people's happiness ratings. Rademeyer says that explains why coastal regions have fared considerably better than inland ones.
Infrastructure and property development - or the lack thereof - are other overarching drivers of quality of life. Rademeyer says how quickly and sufficiently new housing opportunities, schools and business premises are added to a suburb is a key catalyst in achieving quality of life. Middle-income suburbs generally scored far lower in terms of development progress and living resources than their higher income counterparts.
Not surprisingly, safety is a critical factor concerning everyone. Rademeyer says it's clear from the research that different coping mechanisms have been adopted, seeing that faith in the SA Police Service as a protector is very low.
Says Rademeyer: "There's a growing acceptance that security needs to be addressed through individual and community action - as opposed to State action."
However, safety does seem to be less relevant to residents of suburbs with acceptable standards (well-maintained roads, no water or electricity supply issues, well-kept homes, value for money, etc.) and adequate access to living resources, such as shopping centres, private hospitals and good schools. Those are more often than not higher income areas.
Rademeyer says higher income individuals are no doubt happier individuals, possibly since more disposable income enables them to protect themselves better. In higher-income areas criteria such as suburb standards, access to living resources and environmental issues take priority over safety issues and whether or not the suburb has a strong sense of community.
In middle-income suburbs, safety still receives a lot of attention due to the perception that crime isn't being adequately addressed.
"It seems residents in middle-income areas place more value on a sense of community, as that contributes to a perceived sense of safety or cohesion. Even though safety is a more prominent area of concern, a certain level of discontent with safety is expected and accepted by those individuals," Rademeyer says.
Although there's a definite preference for coastal living, Rademeyer says that quality of life criteria are similarly defined for inland and coastal areas. The only area of differentiation is the importance of environmental issues. Coastal residents place a higher premium on their scenic surroundings and noise/air/traffic pollution than inland residents and say their suburbs offer a higher degree of environmental quality.
In conclusion, it seems that higher-income suburbs rated better on all the quality of life drivers than middle-income suburbs.
"The upper crust shows high levels of happiness - despite high levels of stress. Social life aspects including relationships with family and friends, material comforts, health and the opportunity to enjoy hobbies and other forms of entertainment ranked as key factors contributing to the happiness stakes of the upper crust."
So there seems to be no denying that residents in wealthier areas are more satisfied with their quality of life than their poorer counterparts. Who says money can't buy happiness?
. . . and the Southern Suburbs of Polokwane peter out
The southern suburbs of Polokwane were rated below average on all of the quality of life considerations, apart from suburb standards such as road infrastructure, maintenance of properties and electricity and water supply issues.
Rademeyer says a major detractor from the area is the fact that living resources aren't meeting expectations. Development - or rather the lack of it - is a key negative.
Most Southern Suburbs residents aren't satisfied with the rate and quality of development taking place in the area. A general lack of development limits residents' access to basic living resources and opportunities to pursue hobbies or be entertained. Rademeyer says that, as a result, those concerns not only detract from the suburb's desirability but also from how satisfied individuals are with their quality of life.
A key relationship exists between the level of development and current perceptions of safety in a given suburb. Residents in the southern suburbs place safety as a key concern, alongside a lack of development.
Rademeyer says the most prominent reasons for people moving to the southern suburbs include a desire for increased safety, better access to facilities and improved suburb standards. But those expectations have clearly not been met.
What makes Summerstrand sizzle . . .
Summerstrand offers its residents a clean coastal environment, easy access to shopping centres, schools and hospitals, well-kept roads and properties and an elevated sense of community.
Consequently, Summerstrand hasn't only received the honour as the best suburb to live in in terms of an overall quality of life rating, but its residents also enjoy a high, individual quality of life. The latter is particularly relevant in terms of health and work issues, opportunities to socialise and enjoy hobbies.
Rademeyer says Summerstrand is a case study for how an area can swiftly change or adapt.
Between 2006 and 2007 Summerstrand significantly improved on its suburb standards, safety and the quality of environmental factors. Social connectedness and a sense of community are integral to its positioning, says Rademeyer.
According to the survey Summerstrand residents who originated from suburbs outside Port Elizabeth mostly moved to Summerstrand for job opportunities or other work-related reasons. Residents from within Port Elizabeth moved to Summerstrand largely for the superior access to facilities offered, including schools, hospitals and sporting/gym facilities.
Rademeyer says when looked at overall, Summerstrand's residents are significantly more loyal and proud of their suburb than any of the other 24 suburbs in the survey. Summerstrand residents' sense of loyalty to their suburb is supported by a general intention to stay in the suburb for at least another 10 years.
The thorny issue of crime
The one area bound to elicit strong debate is Ask Afrika's conclusion that crime has decreased throughout most suburbs. The survey found that crime in our selected suburbs was down by an overall 2,6% in 2007 (year-on-year). That's based on the latest crime statistics from the Institute of Security Studies (ISS).
Rademeyer says that data has to be qualified and the specific categories of crime further explored to provide a more comprehensive picture of suburban crime. She says crimes such as murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, burglary at residential premises and robbery in residential areas have indeed shown an increase.
Those crimes are singled out because most have shown good reporting rates in the past. That implies that if those are crimes that are well reported, they probably provide a more reliable picture of what the overall level of crime is at a given time.
Contact crime (murder, rape and robbery) is often positioned as the crimes South Africans are most concerned about. However, Rademeyer says the most recent ISS statistics indicate that crimes such as assault, attempted murder and common robbery have dropped.
Findings with regard to safety and crime issues do seem somewhat contradictory. On the one hand, up to 42% of respondents listed safety as the one quality that would contribute most to making a suburb the best to live in. On the other, safety rates as one of the least important quality of life drivers.
"With safety being positioned as a key concern, it may seem counter-intuitive that safety is positioned as one of the least important factors contributing to quality of life in those suburbs measured. However, that doesn't imply that crime isn't important to, or doesn't affect, the average resident that lives in a high or middle-income suburb," she says.
Rather, the results imply that those residents have access to more disposable income and as a consequence may be more capable of protecting themselves from crime. "That's further demonstrated in that most residents don't feel safe in their suburbs or trust the police in the area to protect them. Conversely, they did demonstrate more trust in their security company to offer protection."
Interestingly, higher-income suburbs give safety a higher rating than middle-income suburbs, implying that residents within top-end suburbs are marginally more concerned about crime. That could be closely related to their expectations surrounding their suburb.
Consequently, Rademeyer says safety here could be considered a "hygiene factor". In other words, crime and safety are such pervasive issues in South Africa that they are regarded as a "maintenance" issue that would cause dissatisfaction with a suburb if they get out of hand, but doesn't necessarily drive ratings of suburb satisfaction and desirability.
Happy, shiny people
Our key findings:
- Coastal towns have more of them, with the highest "happiness" rankings seen in Summerstrand (Port Elizabeth), Humewood (PE), Morningside (Durban), Camps Bay (Cape Town) and Constantia (Cape Town).
- Larger cities show higher levels of happiness among their residents than smaller ones.
- Women tend to be slightly more positive than men.
- Higher earnings are associated with higher levels of quality of life.
- Younger residents (21 years and younger) and residents aged between 31 and 40 seem to be the most satisfied with their individual quality of life. Residents aged between 41 and 50 indicated the lowest levels of life satisfaction.
How suburbs were selected
Ask Afrika A used five different estate agencies (Pam Golding Properties, Seeff Properties, Real Net, Aida and Chas Everitt) to identify the top 20 most expensive houses in each suburb in 10 of South Africa's major cities.
The top two most expensive suburbs were then selected in each of the 10 cities, based on the price range information received from the five estate agencies.
Rademeyer says the rationale behind selecting the top two most expensive suburbs per city stemmed from the notion that individuals within those suburbs generally have a broader choice available to them. Consequently, there had to be certain reasons or advantages drawing them to those given suburbs.
"By targeting those respondents you can explore their reasoning behind living in the particular area in terms of the quality of life offered."
One middle-income suburb in each city was included in order to compare their quality of life to that of higher-income suburbs. A sample of 50 respondents per suburb were interviewed. Rademeyer says that made it possible to analyse quality of life for each suburb and city in detail. It also allowed accurate comparisons, trends and advance analysis.
The cut-off minimum sample size in order to qualify for inclusion in the survey was at least 35 respondents/suburb. That cut-off was necessary to conduct meaningful analyses and to be able to make statistical comparisons. |
Posted on Monday, February 04, 2008 (Archive on Friday, February 29, 2008)
Posted by hayleym Contributed by hayleym
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