Who Gets What and Why? Vacancy Chains in Stockholm's Housing Market

Abstract

Abstract The importance of physical resources in influencing life chances makes the study of resource allocation processes and rules especially pertinent and this leads naturally to the question: who gets what and why? This article focuses on the significance of housing construction for residential mobility and addresses the vital question: who will gain from new construction? It examines whether it is possible to build directly for well-resourced households and hope that it indirectly also supports lower income households. It also examines the possibility that changes in the way in which the housing market operates with market-driven construction, geared at a post-modern housing lifestyle, have changed the situation for less well resourced households, compared to traditional housing construction. The study is based on a unique longitudinal database that covers the total population in Sweden over the period 2000–2002. The data are analysed using a Markov chain model that provides a way of analysing the relationship between vacancies in the housing market and household mobility. Tentative answers to questions on the length of the vacancy chains that are created when different types of dwellings become vacant in Stockholm city and what type of households are involved and not involved, are given. These answers have important implications for urban planning.