Apartments from socialism or new construction - What are we willing to give up for one room more?

What makes a flat a good place to live? Square footage, modern equipment and energy efficiency or the way the rooms are laid out and how easily they are adapted to the needs of the family? Research on housing in Serbia has shown that in some aspects, apartments that are several decades old still have an advantage over new construction.

- The technical and spatial quality of the apartment are not opposing categories and there is no justified reason to achieve one quality aspect at the expense of another. Modern construction materials, thermal insulation systems, installations and technological solutions allow a higher level of technical comfort. However, technical progress does not automatically entail progress in spatial organization. Our research shows that respondents who live in newer apartments rate thermal comfort and ease of maintenance more favorably, while certain aspects of functionality, natural lighting and adaptability are rated less favorably. It is, therefore, about different dimensions of quality, where the improvement of one does not necessarily mean the improvement of the other - Alfirević points out.

According to the results of the research, 41.6% of respondents made certain spatial interventions in their apartments. They include moving partitions, glazing terraces, connecting or separating rooms, and changing their purpose.

However, adaptations are more common in older apartments and in households that stay in the same space for a long time. The need for changes does not necessarily have to be the result of design flaws, but can arise from changes in the life of the household, such as the birth of a child, growing children, working from home or changing the number of family members.

- One of the problems of modern housing construction is the identification of meeting the minimum normative requirements with reaching the appropriate quality of the apartment. An apartment that meets all the prescribed conditions does not have to be adaptable to changes in user needs over time, especially if such adaptability is not included in the prescribed criteria. Certain changes in the needs of the household, such as the increase in the need for privacy of children as they grow up, can be anticipated in advance and taken into account during the design. Spatial organization that enables appropriate adaptation to such changes extends the functional life of the apartment and reduces the need for complex adaptations or relocation. That`s why the quality of the apartment should not be assessed only by its initial functionality, but also by its ability to respond to changes during its lifetime - says Alfirević.

- It is interesting that approximately 68% of respondents who live in apartments from the socialist period prefer a well-adapted apartment from that period, but also that around 30% of users of new buildings express the same preference. This suggests that the preference for older apartments is not solely determined by the immediate experience of living in them. In my opinion, this result should be understood primarily as a signal that certain spatial features of older apartments still correspond to modern needs. Good functional organization, natural lighting, clearly separated residential zones and the possibility of adaptation represent permanent qualities of living space, regardless of the social system in which such solutions were created. That`s why I would not interpret the research as an idealization of former housing, but as an indicator that users recognize and value spatial-functional qualities that are not necessarily related to the age of the apartment - Alfirević states.