Immigrants and homelessness—at risk in Canada's outer suburbs

Homelessness is a risk for growing numbers of immigrants. Largely as a result of low incomes, newcomers are more likely than the Canadian-born to spend over 50 percent of total household income on housing costs. Many newcomers suffer 'hidden homelessness'. They do not use shelters and other services, but share accommodation, couch-surf and rely on their social contacts for temporary and precarious housing. The adverse impact of low incomes on the housing experiences of Canadian newcomers is exacerbated in the outer suburbs of metropolitan areas where the supply of affordable housing is limited. This study explores the social backgrounds and housing experiences of immigrant households that are vulnerable to homelessness in outer suburbs through analysis of special tabulations from the 2001 census for York Region and interviews with representatives from local community organisations serving immigrant and low-income populations. The initial findings confirm that a high proportion of newcomers in York Region are at-risk of homelessness during the first 10 years of residence in Canada. Although renters are more vulnerable than homeowners, a substantial percentage of newcomers who are homeowners pay more than 30 percent of their total income on housing costs. The shortage of affordable rental housing in the outer suburbs exacerbates the impacts of low incomes, immigration status, household size and ethnoracial identities on immigrants' housing.     

北京市居民租赁住房可支付能力及空间分异研究

长期以来，我国租赁住房市场被严重边缘化，“十三五”规划明确提出建立租购并举的住房制度，彰显了让住房回归“居住属性”特征。住房租赁市场成为研究热点，而居民的租赁住房可支付能力是其关键。本文将保障性租赁住房与商品性租赁住房合为一体作为研究对象，从我国住房租赁市场的现状出发，客观评价不同人群的家庭可支配收入、最低非住房消费标准、住房补贴比例等指标，在此基础上定义人均租赁住房可支付能力指数，用于评估不同人群的可支付能力。结合目前的租赁住房市场的供给情况，运用GIS软件分析居民可支付能力的空间特征，分析北京市现有租赁住房与居民租房可支付能力匹配情况，对于合理制定多层次租赁住房市场政策具有参考意义。     

昆明市保障性住区居民就业空间特征及其收入效应分析

保障性住房建设解决了大量城市低收入家庭的住房问题,但大多区位偏远、交通不便,远离城市就业中心,导致低收入人群的通勤成本上升,进而对其就业和收入产生影响。本研究以昆明市为样本城市,选取廉租房、公租房和经适房3类保障性住区,利用通勤距离、通勤时间、通勤方式、工作地点等指标,从居住-就业空间匹配角度,揭示保障性住区居民就业空间特征;并通过建立包含空间虚拟变量的多元回归方程,揭示了保障性住区居民就业空间特征对其收入的影响。     

The role of housing and neighbourhood in the re-settlement process: a case study of refugee households in Winnipeg

Access to adequate, affordable housing is an essential first step in the re-settlement process for immigrants and refugees. It is the basis from which newcomers look for jobs, language training and other services. Without such housing, newcomers may have limited security of tenure, compromised health, jeopardized education and employment opportunities and impaired social and family life. Refugees generally face the greatest challenges of all newcomers and find their housing choices constrained by many factors. This article presents the results of a study of refugee housing circumstances in Winnipeg. Key socio-economic, housing and neighbourhood characteristics important to successful re-settlement are documented and analyzed. The longitudinal nature of the study facilitates exploration of trajectories in a variety of indicators over time. The picture that emerges is one of the improving trajectories in many key indicators but also of very difficult circumstances that negatively affect the re-settlement process and the effective integration of refugee households. The article ends with suggestions for policy and program changes that would improve the housing circumstances of newly arrived refugee households.     

企业主义视角下大城市保障房建设的策略选择及其社会空间后果

城市企业主义是理解地方政府行为与城市空间变迁的重要政治经济视角,在中国推进经济全球化和住房市场化的背景下,企业化的地方政府,特别是大城市政府,在保障房的建设实践中往往采取偏向性的策略选择。本文着重讨论企业主义视角下大城市政府保障房建设的策略选择及其社会空间后果。研究发现,大城市政府主要通过实施保障房政策的异化和保障房住区的边远化策略,来履行其住房保障职责。然而,这种选择性策略带来的直接的社会空间后果是低收入群体的边缘化,具体表现为外来务工人员等在保障政策上的边缘化,以及保障房居民在社会空间上的边缘化。文章进一步指出,保障房应回归其保障本位,以满足低收入群体的真实需求。     

DETERMINANTS OF IMMIGRANTS’ ENTRY TO HOMEOWNERSHIP IN THREE NORDIC CAPITAL CITY REGIONS

The extent of homeownership among immigrants may be seen as an indicator of integration and as a determinant of ethnic residential segregation. Studies have shown differences in the determinants of homeownership between immigrants and natives, indicating that variation in homeownership is not only a function of differences in economic resources. These studies have largely focused on Anglo‐American contexts, using mostly cross‐sectional data. We apply survival analysis methods to analyse the determinants of entry to homeownership in the capital regions of three Nordic countries – Denmark, Finland and Sweden – utilizing longitudinal individual‐level register‐based datasets. We find that differences in entry to homeownership between natives and different immigrant groups cannot be explained by differences in socio‐economic background factors. We also find differences in the effects of these factors. Effects of income are generally weaker among non‐Western immigrants and immigrants are less responsive to changes in household composition. The share of non‐Western immigrants in the neighbourhood is only weakly related to entry to homeownership, while immigrants and natives living in public rental housing tend to be slightly less inclined to move to homeownership. Weaker income effects among immigrants, weak effects of ethnic segregation and the importance of the public rental sector differentiate our results from earlier findings. Weaker income effects may indicate that uncertainty about the future also affects middle‐income immigrants. Differences between the three contexts in housing markets and policies do not seem to matter much, although the results indicate that difficult access to the private rental sector may push immigrants to homeownership.     

中国大城市保障房社区的邻里效应研究——以广州市保障房周边社区为例

随着我国保障房建设速度的加快,保障房社区将对已有的城市社会空间结构带来深刻影响,其社会效应亟需深入探讨。本文以邻里效应为切入点,基于社区调研数据,采用因子分析、回归分析和质性研究方法,研究广州市保障房社区对周边社区的影响,以及这种影响的形成机制。研究发现,保障房社区并没有为周边社区带来负面的影响,也不存在"贫困同质化"的现象。然而,保障房居民与周边社区居民缺乏人际交往,其社会融合度也比较低。结果表明,提升保障房社区的社会认同度,消除不同社区居民相互间的隔阂,对构建和谐社区具有重要的意义。     

Navigating the housing crisis: A comparison of international students and other newcomers in a mid-sized Canadian city

This article investigates the housing experiences of international students in comparison to other newcomers in the mid-sized Canadian city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a focus on how they navigate housing crises. Drawing on recent literature on housing justice, a quantitative survey of 188 participants, and 30 qualitative interviews, the findings reveal that international students and other newcomers are at different stages of their housing careers, have different needs and goals, and are experiencing the affordability crisis differently. Housing discrimination is a pressing concern, especially for international students who are subjected to intersectional prejudice, exploitation by landlords, and amplified challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article argues for inclusive housing and immigration policies that acknowledge international students as part of the Canadian housing market and ensure their rights to housing.     

基于新制度经济学视角的学生化社区房屋租赁现象研究——以广州南亭村为例

本研究以广州大学城南亭村为例,从新制度经济学视角解释"学生化"社区的房屋租赁现象,以期填补国内对"学生化"社区房屋租赁现象的制度环境及其形成机制的研究不足。通过实地调研发现,由于城乡二元体制和城中村过度依赖村集体组织的管理模式,各级政府的正式制度安排没有得到充分的落实,正式制度的约束作用不显著。在与正式制度磨合的过程中,基于交易成本的考虑,对不同的正式制度,村民和房东采取了不同的应对策略,有接受、变通、规避、创新,促成了一些非正式制度,部分非正式制度与正式制度相违背。值得注意的是,正是这些非正式制度成为南亭村房屋租赁市场发展的保障与动力,维护着相关利益主体的利益。     

Private rental investment and socio-spatial disadvantage in Sydney,Australia

This article unpacks the connection between a growing cohort of small-scale but purposive property investors and urban socio-spatial restructuring. We analyse private rental housing as a tenure share to demonstrate its spatial correlation with the suburbanisation of socio-economic disadvantage in Sydney, Australia, between 1991 and 2016. Then, we show how investors drive this emerging pattern by reference to the geography of property owners’ stated investment objectives—low capital outlay, rental yields, and capital growth prospects. We contend that the link between their small-scale activities and the city’s changing socio-spatial structure is an overlooked consequence of private rental sector (PRS) housing financialisation. Importantly, our focus on behaviours exhibited by small-scale rental property owners in PRS financialisation transcends existing analyses that have concentrated on corporate entity activity in this space. That focus also contrasts with framings of private rental growth as a residual outcome of developments elsewhere in the housing market. Such work is significant because it demonstrates the impacts of real estate investment on urban form.     

The Conservatives' Search for a Middle Way in Housing, 1951-64

The Conservatives returned to power in 1951, determined to createa property-owning democracy by freeing the market in land andhousing. But freeing the market proved to be no panacea andaroused much criticism. Most important, public housing continuedto expand as the major alternative to private home ownership,in part because the supply of private rented housing declinedprecipitously. Dismayed at this situation, the Conservativesbecame increasingly concerned to find an affordable alternativeto the continued expansion of public housing. To achieve thisgoal, they attempted to foster novel types of private ownershipin the form of societies that could provide either some sortof co-operative housing or rental housing at cost. Ultimately,these attempts to create a middle way in housing failed becausethey ignored the realities of the property market.     

The Precarity of Young People’s Housing Experiences in a Rural Context

Young people’s housing, economic and labour market circumstances have become increasingly insecure due to the combined effects of the 2007/2008 economic crisis, neoliberal welfare reforms, rising costs of higher education and the shortage of affordable housing. Discussions of young peoples’ experiences in these domains have largely neglected their spatial variability but evidence suggests that young people living in rural parts of the UK have distinctive experiences of housing, which are closely connected to labour markets and educational opportunities. By drawing on qualitative data from young people and housing professionals, this article explores some of these rural distinctions and frames them within theoretical debates about the ‘precariat’. It argues for a more theoretically informed and geographically nuanced understanding of contemporary housing issues as rural youth potentially face greater precarity than their urban peers.     

Campgrounds as service hubs for the marginally housed

The service hub concept is strongly associated with deprived areas of North American inner cities, where agglomerations of low‐cost housing and service providers form a space of survival for marginalised populations. In this paper, we contend that service hubs can take other forms, including as small‐scale sites of housing and service provision, informally networked across an urban region. We develop this argument with reference to suburban campgrounds in Auckland, New Zealand—a city experiencing a severe housing affordability crisis. Both individually and collectively, campgrounds enable vulnerable households, as well as tourists, to inhabit an increasingly exclusionary urban environment. Drawing on interviews with 24 resident campers and eight managers, we highlight the role of campgrounds in supporting residents through the provision of informal housing and on‐site services. This provision also benefits the facilities' owners and managers, by creating a year‐round rental income stream. We find that campgrounds are critically important for those whose lives are rendered precarious by the housing market.     

A few “big players”: Systems approach to immigrant employment in a mid-sized city

Canada's immigration policy is regarded globally as a best practice model for selecting highly skilled migrants. Yet, upon arrival many immigrants face challenges integrating into employment. Where immigrants settle is one factor that has been shown to impact on employment integration. In Canada, regionalization policies have resulted in more immigrants settling in small to mid-sized cities. It is important to understand how these local systems are organized to promote immigrant integration into employment. Using a systems approach, this paper presents a case study of immigrant employment in a mid-sized city in Ontario, Canada. Through a document review and stakeholder interviews, a systems map was developed, and local perspectives were analyzed. Results demonstrate that in a mid-sized city, few organizations play a large role in immigrant employment. The connections between these core organizations and the local labour market are complex. Any potential challenges to the system that interfere with these connections can cause a delay for newcomers seeking employment. As cities begin to experience growth driven by immigration, there is a need to ensure local services are not only available but also working effectively within the larger employment system.     

Newcomers in the Canadian housing market: a longitudinal study, 2001–2005

The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) is used to investigate the participation of immigrants in Canada's housing market during the first four years of the settlement process, beginning in 2000–2001. The analysis focuses on the changing rate of homeownership, crowding and affordability. Special attention is given to differences between landing classes and population groups (especially visible minority groups). In general, the housing situation of LSIC survey respondents improved remarkably over the years covered by the survey. This is registered in a much higher rate of homeownership in the third wave of the survey (at four years after landing) compared with the first (six months after landing). Similarly, the ratio of survey respondents spending more than 30 percent of their total family income on housing dropped dramatically, as did the percentage living in crowded conditions. In other words, at least according to the measures explored here, LSIC suggests that the proportion of immigrants in precarious housing situations drops significantly in the early settlement period. This positive outcome is not universally shared, however, and certain groups—notably refugees, and immigrants of black and MiddleEastern background—see much less improvement in their circumstances than the average survey respondent.     

城市公租房社区生活空间质量研究——以西安市为例

以城市社会生活空间质量观理念为研究框架,运用核密度、缓冲区分析等方法从社区物质环境以及居民对社区感知两个维度对城市公租房社区的生活空间质量进行评价。研究发现：西安市公租房社区空间布局较为偏远,集聚特征明显;除教育资源外,医院、商业以及游憩等资源均处于低可获性状态;社区居民对公租房社区房屋面积、房屋质量、物业管理、社区绿化等方面满意度较低,社区归属感及长期居住意愿不强。西安市公租房社区在社区资源可获性方面存在一定的空间剥夺现象,社区整体生活空间质量水平不高。     

旅游城市住宅市场负外部性及其矫正策略研究

旅游业与包括住宅产业在内的房地产业之间存在着显著的正外部效应。这使得旅游房地产成为旅游城市发展经济的一个重要推动力。然而,随着国内旅游房地产开发的热度不断提升,旅游业对旅游城市住宅市场的负外部效应也日益凸显。西方学者的研究表明这些负外部效应主要源自为发展旅游业而实施的较严格的控制性规划以及旅游地产开发带来的第二住宅现象。特别是第二住宅已经成为导致我国部分旅游城市住宅市场失衡的重要诱因。为了保障本地居民的居住需求,促进旅游业与旅游城市经济、社会的和谐和可持续发展,政府应当采取必要的手段矫正旅游房地产开发对本地住宅市场的负外部性。     

Tanzanians in the Land of Oz: diaspora and transnationality in Wichita,Kansas

Studies of recent African immigration to the USA are part of increased scholarly concern for new diasporas and transnationality. Geographers' interests in how particular US settings impact upon African immigrants' experiences and how immigrants transform those settings can be enriched through studies of smaller communities, and their impacts on and experiences in the US outside of the main host cities. This case study of Tanzanians in Wichita, Kansas, concentrates on themes within this community's migration stories that emerged in our research. These include the pull of educational opportunity, the ambivalence of displacement, the simultaneous transnationality and translocality (or local fluidity) of Tanzanians in Wichita, and the diversity of experiences even within a small number of migrants. These themes appear commonly in many US African immigrant communities. We seek to address the possibly distinctive aspects of this case, due to its Tanzanian-ness and its relation to a presumably less likely migration destination, a mid-sized and not very diverse city in Kansas.     

Leveraging city officials’ professional and social Identities to facilitate affordable housing

Housing affordability is an acute problem in many developed economies. It is rooted, inter alia, in a conflict of interests across levels of government. Policies that seek to increase the supply of housing and lower their purchase price are popular among the general electorate, yet local governments deploy urban planning regulations to restrict densification and development of affordable housing within their jurisdictions. Moves to address this conflict would benefit from unpacking city officials' policy preferences and their variation. This paper compares the positions of local-government politicians vs. those of unelected bureaucrats in Israeli cities, drawing on survey and interview data. Our findings confirm the conflicts of interest between levels of government even within Israel's unitary, centralized context. However, we show that career bureaucrats, given their relative freedom from electoral pressures and commitment to professional values, are more amenable to citizens' and central government's shared interest in densification and affordable housing. We also highlight city officials' place of residence—within vs. outside the city—and their social identification with citizens and residents as antecedents of their urban-planning preferences. We draw on these findings to delineate directions for more effective central–local government collaboration in seeking affordable housing solutions.     

重庆市公租房居民职住时空特征研究

近年来公共租赁住房政策成效显著,住房困难人群安居问题得到明显改善,其乐业与否也逐步受到关注。本文以重庆市主城区为例,选取网络公示配租数据,探讨2015—2020年公租房配租居民就业空间分布以及职住分离演变特征。研究发现：①公租房居民就业少量分散于地铁站点以及公租房小区附近,多数居民就业分布在内外以内,呈中心大集聚、边缘小分散态势。②2015—2020年就业集聚于内环以内的态势未发生改变,局部变化受到了城市发展布局与配租数量的影响。③公租房居民通勤平均直线距离在14—17 km之间,距离经历小幅下降后持续上涨,居民内部分化明显,部分人群距离超过30 km,面临愈趋严重的职住分离问题。④居民职住分离程度在个体和社区层面上具有差异性,区位条件好的公租房小区居民职住分离程度较低,男性和收入较高的居民分离程度更高。