Why the Homeless Rebel: Housing Struggles in post-Apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Post-apartheid housing struggles urgently need to be addressed in order to consolidate the inclusivist democracy in South Africa. Former white minority governments restricted housing in order to control the movement of Africans and their labour. This paper analyses aspects of post-apartheid housing protest. The argument is that such protests are rooted in a problematic rights discourse of the anti-apartheid struggle, and in the new constitution's recognition of the right of access to adequate housing, which is nonetheless, subjected to fiscal constraints. The article's second focus is on a legacy of land dispossession, which also hinders housing delivery. Failure to realise the right to housing fuels some of the most important conflict that will shape future organisation of state institutions and relations between the state and society.     

Urban Villages in China: A 2008 Survey of Migrant Settlements in Beijing

A team of Beijing-based urban planning specialists is joined by a noted American geographer to present the results and analyze their 2008 survey of migrant settlements in China's capital city. The paper examines the living and work conditions as well as housing consumption behavior of migrants in Chinese cities, focusing on chengzhongcun or urban villages—rural settlements that have been transformed into poor living spaces for migrant workers. It finds that although migrant workers are willing to pay the same or higher rent per unit of space, they consume much smaller dwelling spaces than local residents. Estimations of the Mincerian wage equation and of a housing demand equation show that migrants' small space consumption is a function not only of low income but also of a reluctance to spend their earnings in the city. The findings reinforce the notion that migrant workers consider the city as a place to work rather than a home in which to live. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: J610, O150, R210, R230. 14 figures, 5 tables, 34 references, 1 appendix.     

Spatial Shifts in the Population of Moscow Region

An American geographer and senior Russian demographer/migration specialist examine spatial shifts in the distribution of population within Moscow city and Moscow Oblast in response to major social and economic changes occurring in the aftermath of the USSR's disintegration. This second installment (for the first, see Ioffe and Zayonchkovskaya, 2010) in a three-part study devoted to exploring the consequences and spatial manifestations of Russia's shrinking population is focused on the one relatively small part of that country that is expected to experience population growth over the next one and one-half decades (albeit strictly due to in-migration rather than natural increase). Particular attention is devoted to the effects of emerging real estate and land markets during the post-Soviet period, on the restructuring of the regional settlement system focused on the Russian capital, as well as the insights to be derived (based on a case study) from investigating processes of spatial population shifts at multiple scales.     

‘Home is home be it never so homely’: Reading Mid-Victorian Slum Interiors

This article considers representations of the ‘slum interior’ as complex cultural narratives produced by urban investigators of the mid-Victorian period, including Henry Mayhew, Thomas Beames and George Godwin. Much existing scholarship on nineteenth-century slum narratives has tended to emphasize the use of sensationalism, hyperbole and tropes of colonialism to describe the dire living conditions of the very poor, a feature particularly apparent in the works of the 1880s. By focusing on writings from the period 1849–1865, this article pays attention to earlier conceptions and projections of slum interiors which were conceived as not altogether abject or ‘other’, but as ambivalent spaces that both defied, and invoked, Victorian forms of domesticity. Through close readings of their textual and visual form, I show how the paradoxical and ambivalent spaces of the slum interior reconfigure in meaningful ways the conventional relations of domestic architecture, inhabitants and their objects.     

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.     

New immigrant settlement in a mid-sized city: a case study of housing barriers and coping strategies in Kelowna, British Columbia

The successful integration of immigrants into a new society is based on their attainment of several basic needs, including access to adequate, suitable and affordable housing. While this has long been a concern in Canadian cities, such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal, it is also increasingly an issue in growing mid-sized cities such as Kelowna, in the interior of British Columbia. While Kelowna's real estate market is one of the most expensive in the country, there is little published data or literature on the housing experiences of immigrants in the city. This study examines the housing experiences and stresses of a small group of immigrants in Kelowna's rental housing market. This study uses data from five focus groups with 34 new immigrants and 20 interviews with key informants, conducted in Kelowna in summer 2008. The evidence indicates that for this group of immigrant newcomers, the housing search process in Kelowna's rental housing market met with significant barriers in locating affordable rental housing. Of these barriers, the most commonly cited were: (a) high housing costs; (b) lack of reliable housing information, including lack of access to organizations that provide housing help (government or not); and (c) prejudice by landlords based on the immigrants' ethnic and racial background.
This study points to the need for more comparative studies on the housing experiences of immigrants in mid-sized cities in Canada to better understand which groups of immigrants are more successful than others in finding affordable housing in these mid-sized cities, and why.     

Peri-urban residential development in the Halifax region 1960–2000: magnets, constraints, and planning policies

The post 1960 locational sequence of peri‐urban residential development in the Halifax city region is interpreted in terms of three sets of factors: magnets or attractors, constraints or inhibitors, and planning policies designed to direct or control development. Most peripheral housing has been suburban (i.e., on small, centrally‐serviced lots) rather than exurban (on large lots, serviced on‐site). Suburban development patterns have been strongly shaped by the 1963 Halifax Housing Survey and the 1975 Regional Development Plan, both of which promoted planned satellite communities on government land assemblies, in areas of cheap land and low development costs. After 1980 effective regional planning was phased out, which encouraged excessive large‐lot development in country districts beyond the service boundary. Magnets for country residential development operate at a variety of scales, and include highway access, elementary schools, localized site conditions, and appropriate zoning. The major regional constraint is road‐distance from the urban core, but socio‐cultural and cadastral constraints are locally important. The paper concludes with a survey of policy options to promote efficient patterns of suburban development and to curb exurban sprawl. Many of these options were recommended in earlier plans, but have lacked fiscal and political support in the last two decades. They must now be re‐assessed in a new regional plan. La séquence géographique post‐1960 du développement résidentiel péri‐urbain dans la région de Halifax est interprétée par l'entremise de trois ensembles des facteurs: les aimants ou les attracteurs, les contraintes ou les inhibiteurs, et les politiques de planification conçues pour diriger ou contrôler le développement. La plupart des logements périphériques ont été sub‐urbains (c'est‐à‐dire sur des petits lots dotés de services centraux) plutôt qu'exurbains (sur des grands lots, dotés sur place). Des configurations suburbaines de développement ont été fortement conditionnées par le Halifax Housing Survey (1963) et par le plan de développement régional (1975), tous deux ayant promu des communautés satellites prévues sur les terres de gouvernement, dans les zones de terrain bon marché avec des coûts de développement relativement bas. Après 1980, la planification régionale a étééliminée, ce qui a encouragé le développement excessif de lots de grandes dimensions dans des zones au‐delà de la limite des services. Les aimants pour le développement résidentiel exurbain fonctionnent à diverses échelles. Ils incluent notamment l'accès routier, les écoles primaires, l'état des sites locaux, et la répartition appropriée en zones. La contrainte régionale principale est la distance routière par rapport au noyau urbain, mais les contraintes socio‐culturelles et cadastrales sont localement importantes. En conclusion, l'article fournit un résumé des options politiques favorisant les configurations efficaces du développement suburbain et limitant le développement des grands lots exurbains. Plusieurs de ces options ont déjà fait l'objet de recommandations dans le cadre de plans passés, mais ont manqué de support fiscal et politique au cours des deux dernières décennies. Elles doivent maintenant être réévaluées dans un nouveau plan régional.     

大都市边缘区农村居民对宅基地退出和定居的思考——以南京市江宁区为例

中国的快速城镇化推动了乡村发展转型与空间重构,农村居民对于土地退出、定居的想法正发生着变化。基于2014 年在南京市江宁区的问卷及访谈调查,本文探索了发达地区大都市边缘区中农村居民针对宅基地退出和未来定居的意愿。通过运用访谈资料和回归模型,本文发现村庄属性、一些个人主客观因子都影响着农村居民对于土地退出和未来定居的决策。本文还发现,相当多的农村居民倾向于在邻近小城镇定居,对宅基地退出普遍持负面态度。随着宅基地财产功能的提升、城乡一体化进程推进等方面的变化,关于宅基地流转制度的改革势在必行。     

解放后北京城市住宅的规划与建设

解放后,新中国的首都面临着只有安居才能乐业的巨大挑战,中共北京市委和市政府坚持"为生产服务、为中央服务、为劳动人民服务"的方针,在百废待兴和建设新首都的前提下,逐步解决城市居民的住宅问题。改革开放以来,围绕着北京住宅的规划和建设,北京市委和市政府采取了成片开发与危旧房改造并举、房改与改善住房条件并举、市场运作与宏观调控相结合等项措施,使北京在进入新世纪的时候,以城市居民人均17 62平方米的住房面积而达到小康水平。北京作为历史古都、文化名城和新中国的首都,其住宅建设应有其历史的继承性和创新性。