A recursive structural framework for housing and residential quality through urban systems theory

This study combines concepts from urban systems theory with structural equation modelling to develop a systems-oriented conceptual framework for studying Housing and Residential Quality (HRQ). The proposed framework organises regulatory and planning conditions (RPC), transportation and accessibility (TA), environmental and urban systems (EUS), health and social infrastructure (HSI), and commercial and economic potential (CEP) into interconnected theoretically defined constructs connected by a recursive structural specification, instead of representing residential outcomes exclusively as functions of independently observed attributes. In order to show how direct and indirect connections between urban subsystems can be represented within a cohesive analytical framework, the paper provides mathematical derivations for the measurement model, recursive structural model, reduced-form representation, and total effect decomposition. A theoretical basis for examining the cumulative structural association of RPC with HRQ over numerous intervening paths is provided by the resulting recursive specification. In the empirical case study, the standardized structural pathway involving TA exhibits a stronger estimated relationship with HRQ than the pathway involving CEP. By explicitly articulating multidimensional urban processes and underlying structural links, the proposed framework aims to complement established hedonic valuation approaches and lay the foundation for future empirical validation in a range of urban contexts.