Are school-district houses truly livable against the background of educational capitalization? evidence from the city of Hohhot in western China

Under the background of educational commodification, the premium price phenomenon of school district houses (SDH) is prevalent and the comprehensive livability of SDH warrants further exploration. The comprehensive livability of SDH should consider the objective livability and the subjective satisfaction of residents. This paper evaluates the objective livability of SDH from four aspects (i.e., safety of living space, convenience of public facilities, convenience of transportation, comfort of living environment) and the residents’ satisfaction of SDH from five dimensions (i.e., living environment, architecture design, spatial planning, infrastructure, and community service). The entropy method is used to determine the weight of each index. To assess the comprehensive livability, the coupling coordination degree model between objective livability and residents’ satisfaction of SDH is constructed. Furthermore, the matching degree among comprehensive livability, housing price, and educational resources is discussed. The results show that the distribution pattern of objective livability is high in the center and low in the periphery. The SDHs with high residents’ satisfaction are mostly distributed in Xincheng District and Saihai District, and the residents’ satisfaction of new SDHs is higher than that of the old one. Saihan District and Xincheng District, characterized by better economic development and well-established infrastructure, exhibit a greater number of SDHs with high comprehensive livability. Conversely, Yuquan District and Huimin District, marked by lower economic development and relatively inadequate facilities, have fewer SDHs with high comprehensive livability. These findings can provide decision-making basis for the construction of livable city and the balance of the high-quality educational resources.