City of Strangers

This chapter presents the establishment of positions in the Confederate congress, offers a framework of military and workforce departments in Richmond, and covers population overflow in Richmond. The author illustrates the benefits and struggles of living in Richmond through stories of individuals from different backgrounds. Despite their differences, these people all experience family, housing, career, and money concerns.

Housing career disparities in urban China: A comparison between skilled migrants and locals in Nanjing

The last two decades have witnessed a substantial growth of the owner-occupied housing sector in urban China, where most people tend to follow a conventional life course in terms of ascending the housing ladder towards homeownership. Yet, with skyrocketing housing prices in the real estate market, fragmentation in housing opportunities has become more important in reshaping the structure of social inequalities. This paper investigates the disparities in housing careers between skilled migrants and their local counterparts in Nanjing, focusing on temporal and spatial aspects. Specifically, this paper examines how skilled migrants’ housing tenure and location change over time, to what extent these changes differ from those of skilled locals, and what factors contribute to the disparities between migrants and locals. The results verify that there are indeed disparities in housing careers between migrants and locals, and the foremost difference lies in the tenure, especially the tenure of the first residence. Spatially, migrants exhibit an outward-bound pattern, often associated with the transition from renting to owning. These disparities in housing careers could be primarily attributed not only to the gap of the intergenerational transfer of wealth between migrants and locals, which can be traced back to regional disparities in economic development, but also to the self-selection of migration. While facing skyrocketing housing prices, the timing of making a foray into the housing market is pivotal. This study also revealed the diminishing marginal utility of education that is found in terms of establishing a superior housing career.

Housing Behaviour of Urban Migrants Occupying Ngindung Lands in Yogyakarta

This article seeks to explore the housing behavior of urban migrant and re-theorize Turner’s model on housing priority by linking it with the housing career of urban migrants in a particular locality and condition of land occupancy. The study is aimed at investigating housing priority and career of urban migrants occupying ngindung land in Yogyakarta through comprehensive quantitative analysis with crosstab technique. Five ngindung communities in Kelurahan Pringgokusuman were examined in this study. The research finding demonstrates that Turner’s model is irrelevant to explain the middle-income migrants’ behavior in choosing moderate standard housing but not maintaining proximity to jobs in the city as their income increases. This is argued to have several rationalities including their circular-mobility behavior and willingness to pay more transportation cost to workplace. Besides, homeownership is found to have no correlation with increase of income. It is therefore suggested that security for urban poor migrants is more about opportunity of livelihood rather than accumulation of assets. In conclusion, this research reflects on the limitation and uncertainty of housing options for urban poor migrants and suggests a radical shift from perceiving ‘housing as a product’ to ‘housing as a process’ – of becoming along with the livelihood betterment of a community.Keywords: Housing priority, housing behaviour, urban migrants, ngindung occupancy

Returning to the parental home: Boomerang moves of younger adults and the welfare regime context

Returns to the parental home represent a dramatic housing career interruption that can have significant social and economic implications. Interaction of individual characteristics with turning point shocks, such as unemployment or partnership dissolution, are key triggering events; however, housing disruptions are further embedded within variegated social, cultural and institutional contexts. Fundamental is the nature of the welfare regime, explaining norms surrounding co-residence as well as the amount and type of resources available. Through analyses using the Eurostat Longitudinal Survey on Income and Living Conditions, the research establishes a foundational understanding of how factors at both the individual as well as institutional and socio-cultural level moderate young adults’ housing interruptions across Europe. The results showed a significant welfare regime effect in outcomes of returned co-residence as well as evidence of differentiations across regimes in how individual characteristics and the experience of turning points related to returns. Higher return propensities were found among more familialistic contexts of Southern Europe and New Member States, while lower likelihoods were evident in the face of stronger state support and practices of earlier autonomy in Social Democratic and, to a lesser degree, intermediate Conservative regime contexts.

A Cohort Location Model of household sorting in US metropolitan regions

In this paper we propose a household sorting model for the 50 largest US metropolitan regions and evaluate the model using 2010 Census data. To approximate residential locations for household cohorts, we specify a Cohort Location Model (CLM) built upon two principle assumptions about housing consumption and metropolitan development/land use patterns. According to our model, the expected distance from the household’s residential location to the city centre(s) increases with the age of the householder (as a proxy for changes in housing career over life span). The CLM provides a flexible housing-based explanation for household sorting patterns in US metropolitan regions. Results from our analysis on US metropolitan regions show that households headed by individuals under the age of 35 are the most common cohort in centrally located areas. We also found that households over 35 are most prevalent in peripheral locations, but their sorting was not statistically different across space.

Mental health and houses in multiple occupation

Purpose – Previous research has established that there is a relationship between housing and mental health, however, understanding about how and why housing affects mental health is still limited. The purpose of this paper is to address this deficit by focusing on the experiences of residents of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 20 HMO residents who were asked about their housing career and experience of living in a HMO. Participants were recruited with assistance from community organisations and landlords. Findings – The physical properties and social environment of the property, as well as personal circumstances experienced prior to the move into the property, all influenced how mental health was affected. The authors identify and discuss in detail three key meditating factors: safety, control and identity which may affect how living in the property impacts the mental health of tenants. Practical implications – Good property management can lessen the potential harmful effects of living in a HMO. However, poorly run properties which house numerous vulnerable people may increase the risk of poor mental health due to attendant high levels of stress and possible risk of abuse. Originality/value – Based on the reports of HMO residents, the authors outline the key mediating processes through which living in HMOs may affect mental wellbeing, as well as illuminating the potential risks and benefits of HMOs, an overlooked tenure in housing research.