Residential Mobility Research Articles

Contributions of Residential and Income Mobility in Different Life Stages to Increasing Low‐Income Rates in Suburban Neighbourhoods

ABSTRACTSocioeconomic residential segregation has been increasing in many cities in Europe and globally. Selective migration is usually considered the main mechanism shaping the socioeconomic trajectories of neighbourhoods, although some studies have suggested it to have only minor contributions. However, it is worth looking, how persons in different life course situations affect these trajectories by their moves or income mobility. Living in a low‐income neighbourhood may be related to a ‘transit stage’ in the life course, for example in the beginning of the work, housing, and family careers, and if the declining income level in the neighbourhood is related to such situations, it may be less indicative of problems in the area. This study explores how selective migration and income mobility have contributed to the income trajectories of suburban neighbourhoods experiencing downward trend in their income level in Finnish cities between 1997 and 2019, and how these contributions are related to different life course situations. We use individual‐level register‐based panel data covering the complete population of Finland and decomposition methods. Our findings emphasise the central role of selective migration in the increasing low‐income rates. Particularly the residential mobility of young childless adults, commonly students, has increased the low‐income populations. However, the main difference to other types of neighbourhoods is the net loss of employed middle‐aged Finnish‐born non‐low‐income residents. This calls for policies improving the attractiveness of these neighbourhoods for the non‐low‐income population.

Childhood residential and neighbourhood mobility: Consequences for educational attainment in young adulthood.

Childhood residential and neighbourhood mobility: Consequences for educational attainment in young adulthood.

Exploring Urban Liveability: Frameworks and Approaches for Sustainable Cities

Urban liveability, a pivotal concept in contemporary urban studies, prioritizes the well-being and satisfaction of city residents. This paper conducts a comprehensive examination of urban liveability, delving into its multifaceted dimensions and indicators through a systematic literature review across disciplines such as urban studies, geography, sociology, and environmental science. It synthesizes existing research to offer insights for policymakers, urban planners, and researchers. Encompassing factors like residential status, environmental aspects, inequality, transport, mobility, aging, and assessments using remote sensing and GIS-based techniques, understanding and evaluating these dimensions are vital for fostering sustainable, inclusive, and vibrant urban environments. Despite challenges in measurement and assessment due to cities' heterogeneous nature and residents' diverse perspectives, the paper emphasizes the need for integrated approaches and cross-sector collaboration to address urbanization challenges effectively. Through empirical support and critical analysis, it provides a holistic framework for urban planning and policy-making efforts, aligning with global sustainability goals like the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. This paper underscores the significance of considering diverse factors and perspectives in shaping urban liveability, serving as a valuable resource for stakeholders committed to creating resilient, vibrant, and equitable cities that enhance residents' overall quality of life.

The teleworking paradox: the geography of residential mobility of workers in pandemic times

Spatial disparities in quality of life drive population movement between regions. This study explores how concerns related to remote work and health influence intentions to migrate between urban and rural areas in Europe. Using data from a large-scale survey conducted during the pandemic, we identify an indirect effect of occupation on migration intentions through preferences for teleworking. However, we do not find evidence of a direct relationship between occupation and teleworking. We term this phenomenon the “teleworking paradox”. To explain the paradox, we propose and test two mechanisms: economic agglomeration and health amenities. These mechanisms predict how workers in different occupations interact differently with place-specific factors. While evidence for the health amenity explanation is somewhat stronger than for the agglomeration mechanism, it remains mixed. Our findings suggest that the pandemic is unlikely to significantly narrow urban–rural disparities in Europe.

Staying or Moving: Racial Differences in Single Mothers’ Residential Stability

In this study, we investigate the residential stability and mobility patterns of Black single mothers compared to White single mothers. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics from 1970 to 2015, linked to the U.S. Census for contextual characteristics, our multilevel linear probability models reveal substantial racial disparities. Black single mothers have a lower probability of remaining in non-poor neighborhoods rather than migrating to poor neighborhoods relative to White single mothers. Conversely, Black single mothers possess a higher probability of remaining in poor neighborhoods instead of moving to non-poor ones in relation to White single mothers. When economic resources are allowed to vary between Black and White single mothers, even higher-income Black single mothers cannot convert these resources into remaining in or migrating to non-poor neighborhoods at the same rate as White single mothers.

Housing Behaviors for Older Households in South Korea: The Role of Intergenerational Networks

This study assesses the predictions of future mobility rates and tenure choice behaviors by characterizing older households by age and place, focusing on the role of intergenerational networks. This study employed mixed effects logistic regression along with longitudinal household data acquired from the 2008–2020 Korea Longitudinal Study of Aging. The findings are as follows. First, co-residence with children encouraged older people to remain in their current places of residence. In contrast, those within 30 min of a child’s house by public transportation tended to experience residential mobility and dissave their accumulated housing wealth. Second, the effects of intergenerational networks on housing behaviors—independent living, residential mobility, and tenure transition—seemed greater and statistically significant for the oldest cohort, aged 75 years and above, and in non-metropolitan areas. Finally, intergenerational networks might help vulnerable households—being single or having poor health—stay in their current independent living situations, but they did not appear to be major factors influencing housing decisions, such as residential mobility or housing adjustments, in older households. In conclusion, intergenerational networks seem to have a partial direct impact on aging in place (AIP) in Korea. Instead, older Koreans tend to relocate closer to their children and seem to age in those areas. Understanding the reasons why older households choose to stay or leave their current homes is crucial, as it relates to aging in place (AIP), a widely used term in aging-related matters and a goal of elderly housing policies. This study provides seminal insights into this issue.

Living on the edge: how do perceptions of coastal erosion risk affect residential mobility decisions?

ABSTRACT This paper explores the experiences of households affected by coastal erosion. In England alone 82,000 properties are predicted to be at risk by 2100. The paper advances the understanding of the effects of coastal erosion upon residential mobility decision-making, via interviews with residents living in areas of coastal risk along the Holderness Coast in the UK, the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. The research illustrates that whilst moves into the areas at risk are seemingly irrational, they are in fact the result of upon intuitive and individual judgments of perception of risks and benefits. Participants report the negative impacts of erosion in the study area (e.g. loss of physical infrastructure), yet it was also clear they derived many benefits from living within the study area, including the appreciation of the seascape and access to natural amenities. There was also a strong emotional connection associated with the Holderness Coast meaning that many participants were unwilling to move away. For some, the negative impact upon house prices meant some household’s financial resources could not support a move away from risk, for others the benefit of a discounted home served to encourage a move into the area, despite the presence of risk. The evidence has several implications for the management of coastal erosion. Whilst outright compensation is not advocated in this paper, there is a clear need for additional support for relocation, which should include financial support for roll-back and provision of appropriate and suitability located alternative accommodation, particularly for lower-income households. Highlights Amenity benefits and attachment to coastal areas can outweigh perceptions of the risk of coastal erosion. Low house prices due to coastal erosion can attract individuals to move to areas at risk. Lack of financial and practical support as well as place attachment can prevent or discourage households to move away from risk. Physical decline and perceptions of unfairness regarding coastal management can foster mistrust between local institutions and residents.

Determinants of households residential mobility decision in Kumasi Ghana

Determinants of households residential mobility decision in Kumasi Ghana

Fleeing school choice? Resident student exit from suburban school districts

This study examines the movement of students in suburban Detroit through open enrollment, or inter-district school choice. We examine whether absolute levels and changes in the district enrollment of Black, economically disadvantaged, and nonresident students are perceived as racial threats by suburban families, leading them to exit their local school districts, through school or residential mobility. Using a multilevel discrete time survival analysis, we found that, for each standard deviation increase in the absolute percentage of Black students in the district, resident students were nearly eight times more likely to use school choice to exit their district the subsequent school year, and for every standard deviation increase in the change of Black enrollment in the district, resident students were 32 times more likely to move to a new district. For every standard deviation increase in the absolute percentage of nonresident students in the district, a resident student was 3.5 times more likely to move to a different district. This study adds to the evidence that school choice policies may contribute to racial inequality and raises questions about the logic of shifting state education resources to nonresident districts, rather than investing in strengthening urban and exurban school systems.

Predictors of willingness to uptake orthodontic treatment and qualitative insights into the reasons for its postponement in young adults.

To investigate the predictors of willingness to uptake orthodontic treatment and to explore the reasons for postponing its initiation in young adults. Students, aged 18-30 years old, were randomly approached at the Central Library of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Campus and invited to complete the study tool anonymously and voluntarily. The Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) and the esthetic component of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN-AC) were used to evaluate students' psychosocial impact of dental esthetics and severity of malocclusion, whereas the rationale for postponing the initiation of orthodontic treatment was recorded through an open-ended question, analyzed using thematic content analysis. In total, 270 students, 55.2% female, participated. The single statistically significant factor predicting willingness to uptake orthodontic treatment was the PIDAQ-Psychological Impact subscale (OR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.11-1.37, P < .001). Gender and age were not associated with willingness to pursue treatment. Seven main themes emerged regarding reasons for postponement: fear of the procedure, embarrassment regarding appearance during treatment, low prioritization of esthetics, insufficient information, high cost of treatment, prolonged duration of treatment, and residential mobility. The findings suggest that psychological impact of dental esthetics constitutes the main driver to pursue orthodontic treatment. A patient-centered orthodontic approach should address the possible barriers to its initiation. Increasing young adults' oral health literacy could be key in empowering them to make better informed decisions regarding their oral health-related quality of life.

Infrastructuring Mobility via State-Led School Franchising: Leveraging Public Educational Resources to Facilitate Middle-Class Residential (Im) Mobility

Drawing on the literature of geographies of education, mobilities, and critical infrastructure studies, this study introduces a novel analytical lens of infrastructuring mobility to examine the prevalent phenomenon of school franchising in China. From the vantage point of mobility with an infrastructure focus, we examine how strategic school infrastructural substrates are selectively mobilized to facilitate desired (im)mobilities of the middle class for promoting urban (re)development. Drawing on rich empirical evidence, including policy documents and thirty-nine in-depth interviews with various stakeholders, we found that school franchising mainly revolves around exporting the subinfrastructure (i.e., the brand of key schools) from the city center to strategic locales in the suburbs, and to a lesser extent in the city center. Other infrastructural substrates essential for high-quality schooling experience like good teachers are lagging behind. These franchised schools are nonetheless highly sought after by middle-class parents anxious about social reproduction as infrastructures of promise, who subsequently enact residential mobilities to these urban (re)development areas to access these schools. These mobilities and their infrastructuring processes are underpinned by a nexus of the entrepreneurial local states, profiteering developers, and expansionist schools. Particularly, the state strategically orchestrates and meticulously calibrates school franchising and its geography to enable desired mobilities and facilitate urban (re)development. This study hence unpacks the multiple mobilities (of infrastructural substrates and middle-class households) and the infrastructuring process enabling it. It foregrounds the importance of education as an apparatus of urban governance and an integral part of reshaping the wider sociospatial restructuring processes.

Robust Indicators of Residential Mobility Derived From Longitudinal Canadian Data to Examine Population Health Across the Life Course

Robust Indicators of Residential Mobility Derived From Longitudinal Canadian Data to Examine Population Health Across the Life Course

Social determinants of health, driving time to trauma hospitals, racial composition, and firearm violence in South Carolina

BackgroundNeighbourhood-level social determinants of health (‘SDOHs’) have been linked to negative health outcomes which may include elevated risk of firearm-related injury. This study investigates whether certain SDOHs, including average drive...

Pandemic rural residential mobilities? Towards an understanding of who moved house and why in rural Ireland

A growing body of research has emerged in recent years examining the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of cities, regions and rural places. This includes examining the potential for decentralised housing demand – an urban exodus – as households adapted to a post-pandemic society. This article examines ‘pandemic mobilities’ in the context of rural housing demand in Ireland. Based on survey data across three case study areas, the article compares pre- and post-pandemic ‘movers’ to examine any differences in types of households moving or changes in the motivations of relocating households. Rather than an urban exodus, our research indicates that rural residential mobility is diverse and is often driven by return migration or local mobility, influenced by pre-existing family networks. The pandemic did not appear to be a driver of rural residential change but emerged as an enabling factor (e.g. working remotely) or as an accelerator for planned relocation decisions.

Life after loss: the causal effect of parental death on daughters’ fertility

Using Austrian administrative data, this study examines the causal effect of parental death on daughters’ fertility through a difference-in-differences approach. The findings indicate that parental death leads to quantitatively insignificant changes in the number of children and the probability of childlessness. Complementary analyses show no substantial effects on labor market participation, residential mobility, or long-term mental health. The evidence suggests that fertility decisions remain largely unaffected by the logistical and emotional challenges of parental loss, highlighting the resilience of reproductive choices to external life shocks.

Beyond Gateways: Unraveling Residential Mobility and Integration In and Out of Chinatowns

This article examines immigrant residential mobility patterns in and out of ethnic neighborhoods, focusing on the effects of both socioeconomic attainment and coethnic preferences. Using a recently conducted survey sample of Chinese immigrants in Japan, the study reveals four distinct mobility patterns that lead to residence in and out of ethnic neighborhoods. The four types are a combination of mobility between ethnic and majority neighborhoods, including remaining in ethnic neighborhoods, moving from ethnic neighborhoods to majority neighborhoods, remaining in majority neighborhoods, and moving from majority neighborhoods to ethnic neighborhoods. Varying levels of socioeconomic resources and coethnic residential preferences influence these patterns. They show that ethnic neighborhoods, while serving as essential gateways that offer an initial foothold for newcomers, also act as hubs for cultural affiliation for those with high coethnic preferences, leading some immigrants to move from majority to ethnic neighborhoods. The results also highlight the role of ethnic housing agents in securing housing for socioeconomically disadvantaged immigrants and underscore the importance of language proficiency in achieving spatial assimilation. These results emphasize the significance of mobility pathways in residential integration and suggest potential differences in the integration processes between traditional and global new destinations.

Residential mobility in Basrah city: The spatial relationship between its drivers and variables by using statistical analysis

Residential mobility plays a vital role in raising urban growth and expansion. Basrah city witnessed a residential movement of many families, whether from the same neighborhood or others. This movement is motivated by several factors effectively. Several families move from one place to another, influenced by a set of motives that encouraged the movement. However, research on the motivations and drivers behind residential movement is limited. Thus, the study aims at determining drivers of residential mobility in Basrah city in 2023. It applies statistical analysis (SPSS.V.28) and methods of geographical information systems (GIS) in order to measure the drivers behind the residential mobility. The results show that several households move within the same neighborhood or between other ones due to various reasons such as an increase in family size or income, a desire to move to large house, high-cost rent, a change of marital status (marriage), a desire to move closer to family and relatives or to schools of sons or the workplace, a suffer from car parking that is located near sources of pollution and neighborhood dissatisfaction.

Mapping the desirable and affordable city: middle-income renter perceptions of housing opportunity

ABSTRACT This paper addresses how middle-income renters perceive changing housing opportunities for them in New York City. Using a qualitative GIS approach to analyzing sketch maps, this paper draws from a purposive sample of 32 mostly white middle-income renters living in New York City in 2018 and 2019 to examine their understanding of what parts of the city are affordable and desirable to them now and in the past. By pairing the idea of spatial polarization with middle-income shrink and stretch through social polarization, I demonstrate how perceptions of broader processes of housing cost can impact individuals’ beliefs about their residential mobility in the city. This demonstrates how location desirability and perceived cost can operate as a form of exclusionary pressure. These findings expand the conceptualization of exclusionary pressure and immobility as spatial phenomena while methodologically demonstrating how sketch mapping can elicit individuals’ perceived relationship between interrelated spatial concepts.

Exploring the Early Neolithic in the Arabian Gulf: A newly discovered 8,400-year-old stone-built architecture on Ghagha Island, United Arab Emirates.

The site of GHG0088, with its two successive main phases of occupation, provides crucial data for re-evaluating our understanding of the Early Neolithic period (c. 6600-5400 cal. BCE) in the Arabian Gulf. The initial phase is marked by durable stone-built structures and evidence of domestic activities and funerary practices, presumably reflecting a settled lifestyle. The material culture includes a lithic industry, tools crafted from marine shells, and plaster vessels indicative of early pyrotechnological skills, while the absence of pottery challenges traditional views of Neolithic material assemblages in the Arabian Peninsula. Analysis of faunal remains indicates a subsistence strategy heavily reliant on marine resources, particularly fish, highlighting the exploitation of the neighbouring sea. While there is no evidence of agriculture or animal herding during that period, the rich coastal ecosystems likely ensured food security, reducing the need for residential mobility. The architectural remnants reveal patterns of continuity and adaptation across both phases. A significant layer of accumulated aeolian sand suggests a period of abandonment, potentially linked to the 8.2 ka BP climatic event. The subsequent reoccupation involved the adaptive reuse of the collapsed structures, transforming them into a temporary shelter for fishers, as suggested by numerous stone weights found. Additionally, the presence of shell beads underscores a renewed significance of marine resources during this second phase of occupation and suggests participation in extensive long-distance trade networks. These findings provide valuable new perspectives on the early stages of the Neolithic period in the Arabian Gulf. Comparisons with other contemporary sites offer a foundation for redefining the Early Arabian Neolithic and its timeline in this region.

The impact of residential mobility on consumers’ preference for feasible products

The impact of residential mobility on consumers’ preference for feasible products