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According to the Seoul Survey 2007, two of three Seoulites responded they would choose to reside in Seoul ten years from now. This is a strong approval rating and says much about the satisfaction rate of the citizens of Seoul.
Seoul City released the results of the latest Seoul Survey on March 11, containing various information on life in Seoul. According to the survey, the happiness rating among Seoulites was 6.55 out of 10, an impressive 0.13 point jump from the previous results. A series of questions asking the political, economic, and social position of Seoulites came back 76.6%, showing a strong middle-class representation.
Although the satisfaction rate of Seoul’s cultural environment came back relatively low at 27.3%, it still showed a strong improvement of 7.2% from last year. Seoulites also showed a tendency to shy away from the movies last year, preferring to visit art exhibitions, concerts and performances instead. While movies saw a decrease from 3.94 to 3.12, art exhibitions, concerts, various performances as well as sporting events all saw a slight increase.
As for housing, the survey revealed that an average Seoulite dwells in an 83.6m2 sized apartment but they would be more content with a 105m2 sized housing. Furthermore, 56.4% of the Seoulites are homeowners. It is also interesting to note that half of households in Seoul are in debt and the cause of debt usually stemmed from housing mortgage, rental, educational expenses, living expenses and financial investment plans.
As for the level of satisfaction in different areas of daily living, the housing environment scored 5.72 out of 10 while social environment got a 5, economic environment received a 4.92 and education environment was tagged with the lowest approval rating at 4.56. The most impressive increase was given to public transportation and traffic with a solid score of 5.78. This is a significant increase from the meager 5.15 rating in 2003.
On a more interesting note, 62.9% of Seoulites are not yet warm to the idea of interracial marriages, indicating a still strong conservative nature. Of the working class, 57% responded they would change jobs right away if the right opportunity presented itself. In addition, 48.7% replied they would prefer personal time or time away from work than working overtime to add to their annual income. About a third, or 33.1%, replied they need to purchase a car before buying a house, 21.3% would readily go under the knife to improve their looks and 20.5% would pay more for a brand name item.
As for foreign representation in Seoul, 51.3% are females with 26.5% in their 40s, 22.4% in their 22.4%, and 20.3% in their 50s.
For more information, please contact the Seoul Global Center at (82-2)1688-0120 or email to hotline@seoul.go.kr
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